LC 


UC-NRLF 


$B    17    fi37 


EXCHANGE 


.^^,;^iAl 


XV.* 


EXPERIMENTAL  STUDIES  IN  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  PEDAGOGY 


Editor: 
LIGHTNER  WITMER 

Universitt  or  Pennsylvania 


VI 

RETARDATION  IN  THE  READING  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


AARON  MOYER  8NYDER,  Ph.D. 


A   THESIS 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACUI/TY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 

OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  IN  PARTIAL 

FULFILMENT  OP  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE 

DEGREE   OF  DOCTOR  OF   PHILOSOPHY 


PHILADELPHIA 

TUV  v«v<  HOLOGICAL  CLINIC  PRESS 

1911 


Psychological 
Monographs 


A  SERIES  OF  EXPERIMENTAL 

STUDIES  IN  PSYCHOLOGY 

AND  PEDAGOGY 


EDITED    BY 

LIGHTNER  WITMER 
University  of  Pennsylvania 


Spelling  in  the  Elementary  School.  An  Experimental  and  Statistical  In- 
vestigation. 1902.  98  pp.  16  figures  in  the  text  and  an  appendix  of 
26  tables.     Price:  cloth,  $1.25;  paper,  $1.00. 

By  Oliver  P.  Cornman,  Ph.  D.,  District  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
Philadelphia. 


'Dr.  Cornman  has  made  an  extensive  investigation  of  the  ability  of  school  children 
in  Philadelphia  schools  in  the  subject  of  spelling,  and  studied  his  results  with  such 
care  that  his  work  deserves  special  attention."  Professor  W.  H.  Burnham.  The 
Pedagogical  Seminary.     Vol.  VIII.     No.  4,  Dec,  1906,  p.  491. 


2.  The  Sensation  of  Pain  and  the  Theory  of  the  Specific  Sense  Energies. 

1902.     viii-}-87  pp.,  with  one  table  and  two  figures  in  the  text.     Price: 
paper,  $1.00. 

By    Anna    J.  McKeag,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Pedagogy,  Wellesley 
College. 

As  a  result  of  an  experimental  investigation  of  the  reaction  of  a  number  of  subjects 
to  painful  stimuli,  the  author  first  presents  an  analysis  of  the  pain  judgment,  which 
is  presented  either  as  a  general  or  unforced  judgment,  or  as  adjudgment  in  which  the 
subject  is  required  to  give  expression  to  the  perceived  qualitative  distinctness  and 
discreteness  of  the  sensation.  The  relation  of  pain  and  touch  to  various  stimuli  is 
given  consideration.  In  ah  important  chapter  a  resume  of  the  history  of  the  theory 
of  the  specific  sense  energies  is  given,  with  special  reference  to  the  sensation  of  pain, 
and  an  examination  is  made  of  the  physiological  basis  of  pain  in  the  periphery 
and  nerve  centres. 

3.  The  Application  of  Statistical  Methods  to  the  Problem  of  Psvchophysics, 

1908.     221  pp.,  including  94  tables.     Price:  paper,  S2. 50. 

By  F.  M.  Urban,  Ph.  D.,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia. 

4.  Two  Experimental  Studies  of  theT Insane.      I.     The  Train  of  Thought. 

II.     Some  Physiological  Conditions  accompanying  States  of  Depression. 
84  pp.,  3  inserted  tables.     Price:  paper,  $1.00. 

By  Clara  Harrison  Town,  Ph.  D.,  Resident  Psychologist  at  Friends' 
Asylum  for  the  Insane,  Frankford,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

„5.     A  Clinical  Study  of  One  Thousand  Retarded  Children  in  Camden,  N.  J, 
\>OwA^      By*J.  D.  Heilman,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Psychology,  State  Normal 
"School* Qreeley,  Colorado.     106  pp.,  including  23  tables.     Price:  paper. 
SI. 00. 

6.     Extent  and  Causes  of  Retardation  in  the  Reading  (Pa.)  Public  Schools  in 
December,  1910.     A  Statistical  Study. 

By  Aaron  AIoyer  Snyder,  Ph.D.     72  pp.,  including  44  tables,  and 
14  figures  in  the  text.     Price:  paper.  $1.00. 

THE    PSYCHOLOGICAL    CLINIC    PRESS 
Woodland    Ave.  &  36th    St.  Philadelphia,    Pa. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/extentcausesofreOOsnydrich 


EXPERIMENTAL  STUDIES   IN   PSYCHOLOGY  AND  PEDAGOGY 


Editor: 
LIGHTNER  WITHER 

University  of  Pennsylvania 


VI.      EXTEJSTT   AND   CAUSES   OF   RETARDATIO:tT   IN 

THE  READmG  (PA.)  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN 

DECEMBER,  1910.     A  STATISTICAL 

STUDY. 


EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION  IN  THE  READING  (PA.) 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  DECEMBER,  1910. 

A  STATISTICAL  STUDY 


BY 


AARON  MOYER  SNYDER,  Ph.D. 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CLINIC  PRESS 

1911 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Introduction  9 

II.  Figures  of  Enrolment.    School  Census 12 

III.  Retardation.     Average  Time  Spent  in  Grade.     Pro- 

motions    26 

IV.  Age  of  Entrance 45 

V.  Elimination 53 

VI.  Attendance    58 

VII.  Summary 68 


257082 


CHAPTER 
I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII, 
XXIII. 

XXIV. 
XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 
XXXI. 

XXXII. 


LIST  OF  TABLES. 

PAGE 

Grade  distribution  according  to  blanks  returned  from  both  public 

and  parochial  schools 11 

Enrolment  of  males  and  females  in  each  grade  of  the  public  schools 

in  October,  1907    14 

Changes  in  enrolment  from  September  to  June  during  1907-1908  in 

the  first  four  grades    15 

Changes  in  enrolment   (per  cent)    from  September,   1907,  to  June, 

1908,  in  grades  five,  six,  seven,  and  eight 16 

Enrolment  in  the  elementary  grades  in  October  for  the  years  1903 

to    1908 19 

School  census  taken  from  blanks    23 

Distribution  according  to   age 24 

Pupils  above  normal  age  in  each  grade 28 

Pupils  of  normal  age  in  each  grade   28 

Pupils  below  normal  age  in  each  grade   28 

Pupils  below  normal  age   (on  basis  of  age)    31 

Pupils  of  normal  age  (on  basis  of  age)    32 

Pupils  above  normal  age   (on  basis  of  age)    32 

Average  time  spent  in  each  of  the  eight  elementary  grades   33 

Per  cents  of  those  who  gained  time,  made  normal  progress,  and  lost 

time  in  each  grade,  in  half  years 35 

The  school  progress  of  the  males  in  each  grade  by  terms 39 

The  school  progress  of  the  females  in  each  grade  by  terms 39 

The  school  progress  of  males  and  females  in  each  grade  by  terms . .  39 

Summary  of  school  progress  of  8457  pupils   40 

The  school  progress  of  8457  pupils  expressed  financially   41 

Results  obtained  by  three  different  methods  for  computing  per- 
centages of  promotion   43 

Admission  to  the  first  grade   44 

Average  ages  of  pupils  who  spent  a  half  year,  a  year  and  a  half, 

and  two  years  and  over  in  the  same  grade 46 

Average  ages  of  pupils  in  the  elementary  grades  in  October,  1908..  47 
Comparison  of  normal  progress,  and  one  and  two  year  losses  on  the 

basis  of  age  entrance 48 

Comparison   of  normal   progress,   and   one  and  two  year  losses  in 

groups    49 

Entrances  per  thousand   other  than  through   promotion   to  grades 

two  to  eight 49 

Per  cent  of  the  number  in  each  grade  who  were  admitted  after  the 

first   grade    50 

Average  ages  of  those  who  attended  only  the  Reading  public  schools, 

and  of  those  who  formerly  completed  one  or  more  years  In 

another  school   51 

Loss    sustained    by    pupils    in    grades    five,    six,    seven,    and    eight 

through  change  of  residence 51 

Per  cent  of  decrease  throughout  the  eight  elementary  grades,  based 

upon  the  enrolment  in  the  first  grade   53 

Average  decrease  in  the  October  enrolment  in  1907  and  1908 54 

(7) 


8"    "■  ''  '  '^  '  ''^    '  Lik  of  Tables  and  Diagrams. 

CHAPTEE  PAGE 

XXXIII.  Causes  and  percentages  of  withdrawals   55 

XXXIV.  Percentages  of  withdrawals  in  each  grade   55 

XXXV.  Grade  distribution  of  withdrawals  on  the  basis  of  cause  of  leaving.  56 

XXXVI.  Classification    by   grades    of   4889    pupils    promoted   and    1820   not 

promoted     59 

XXXVII.  Attendance  of  promoted  and  non-promoted  pupils  on  the  basis  of  a 

thousand,  and  percentages  in  groups  of  one-fourth 59 

XXXVIII.  Percentages  of  attendance  on  the  basis  of  fourths  of  the  number  of 

days   60 

XXXIX.  Percentages  of  attendance  of  the  promoted  pupils  in  groups  of  thirty 

days   62 

XL.  Percentages    of    attendance    of   non-promoted    pupils    in    groups    of 

thirty  days   63 

XLI.  Percentages  of  attendance  of  the  promoted  and  non-promoted  pupils 

on  the  basis  of  70  per  cent  of  the  number  of  days 64 

XLI  I.  Effect  of  non-attendance  as  a  cause  of  non-promotion 65 

XLIII.  Total  number  of  aays  lost  per  thousand  by  pupils  of  the  promoted 

group  in  the  first  seven  grades 66 

XLIV.  Total  number  of  days  lost  per  thousand  by  the  non-promoted  group.  66 


LIST  OF  DIAGRAMS. 

PAGE 

1.  The  approximate  number  of  males  and  females  in  each  grade   15 

2.  Relative  value  of  October,  February  and  June  enrolments,  based  on  devia- 

tion from  September  enrolment 17 

3.  Distribution  of  10,157  pupils  according  to  grade   24 

4.  Distribution  of  10,157  pupils  according  to  age 25 

5.  Per  cent  of  male  and  female  retarded  in  each  grade 29 

6.  Per  cent  of  male  and  female  of  normal  age  in  each  grade   29 

7.  Per  cent  of  male  and  female  below  normal  age  in  each  grade 29 

8.  Per  cent  of  pupils  of  normal  age,  above  normal,  and  below  normal  In  each 

grade 30 

9.  Relative  number  of  pupils  of  normal  age,  above  normal,  and  below  normal.  31 

10.  Number  of  terms  gained  and  lost  by  8457  boys  and  girls  in  the  elementary 

grades    41 

11.  Relative  gain  and  loss  of  8457  pupils  in  the  elementary  grades 42 

12.  Relation  of  retardation  and  elimination  on  basis  of  number  in  each  grade . .  57 

13.  Relation  of  retardation  and  elimination  in  elementary  grades  on  basis  of 

age   57 

14.  Attendance  of  1856  pupils  not  promoted,  and  4889  pupils  promoted 61 


EXTENT  AND   CAUSES   OF  KETAKDATIOJST  IN  THE 

KE^iDING  (PA.)  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  DECEM- 

BEK,  1910.     A  STATISTICAL  STUDY. 


L 
Intkoduction. 


During  the  last  six  years  investigations  have  been  conducted 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Psychological  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  to  find  out  the  various  causes  for  the 
retardation  of  a  large  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  girls  enrolled  in 
the  public  schools.  Although  these  and  other  investigations  have 
done  much  to  throw  light  upon  the  shortcomings  and  defects  of 
the  present  elementary  school  system,  much  remains  to  be  done. 
It  was,  therefore,  with  a  view  toward  obtaining  further  knowledge 
in  regard  to  the  amount  of  retardation  in  each  of  the  eight  ele- 
mentary grades  and  of  finding  some  of  the  fundamental  causes 
contributing  thereto,  that  the  present  investigation  was 
undertaken. 

The  original  plan  was  to  study  the  school  history  of  the 
first  year  classes  enrolled  in  the  Reading  high  schools  in  Sep- 
tember, 1908,  tracing  the  children  back  for  at  least  eight  years  to 
the  time  when  normally  they  should  have  entered  the  first  grade, 
and  including  all  who  had  ever  belonged  to  these  classes.  A 
careful  examination  of  the  available  data,  however,  soon  dis- 
closed the  fact- that  previous  to  1905  the  records  were  imperfect, 
and  even  as  far  as  they  went  were  unreliable  and  taken  under 
abnormal  conditions.  The  explanation  for  this  is  that  in  1902 
the  old  regime  of  gradation  which  had  been  in  use  for  at  least 
seventeen  years  was  completely  changed  and  the  commonly 
accepted  twelve-year  system  put  into  operation.  It  is  obvious 
that  such  a  change  produces  abnormal  conditions  throughout 
the  grades  and  that  it  will  take  at  least  three  or  four  years 
before  a  new  system  can  be  applied  effectively  under  anything 
like  normal  conditions. 

The  original  plan,  therefore,  had  to  be  abandoned.     In  its 
place  was  adopted  a  study  of  the  school  history  of  the  pupils 

(9) 


10      EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

enrolled  in  the  eight  elementary  grades  in  October,  1908,  for 
the  three  years  1906-1909.  This  could  not  have  been  done 
without  the  liberal  assistance  given  by  the  superintendent,  super- 
visors, and  teachers. 

The  sources  of  the  data  collected  fall  under  three  heads: 
(1)  the  school  records;  (2)  the  personal  knowledge  of  the 
teachers,  and  (3)  information  furnished  by  the  home  through 
the  child.  Among  the  former  must  be  mentioned  the  record 
card  given  to  the  child  upon  entering  school.  The  data  recorded 
on  these  since  1905  are  very  reliable,  the  form  being  shown  in 
the  following  duplicate : 


Public  Schools,  Keading,  Pa. 

Record    of    Born    

Admitted    to Building Grade. 

Date  of  admission Date  of  vaccination , 

*  Indicates  transfer. 


Date  of  Pro. 
or  Trans. 

To 
grade 

Divi- 
sion 

Build- 
ing 

Date  of  Pro. 
or  Trans, 

To 
grade 

Divi- 
sion 

Build- 
ing 



Owing  to  differences  in  recording  the  division  and  to  lack 
of  a  clear  distinction  between  division  A  and  B  in  many  of  the 
grades,  the  data  recorded  under  the  division  column  had  to  be 
discarded.  The  date  of  vaccination  was  also  omitted,  although 
in  a  few  cases  a  child  was  kept  out  of  school  on  account  of  not 
being  vaccinated. 

On  the  blanks  returned  the  names  of  6025  boys  and  5736 
girls  were  recorded  as  regularly  enrolled  pupils  for  the  first 
three  months.  Of  these  5335  boys  and  5130  girls,  a  total  of 
10,465  belonged  to  the  public  schools,  and  690  boys  and  606  girls 
to  the  parochial  schools.  Classified  according  to  grade  they  are 
as  follows: 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

Table     I. — Gkade     DisTEiBUTioiq^     according     to     Blanks 
Returned  from  Both  Public  and  Parochial  Schools. 


PubUc  Schools 

Parochial  Schools 

des 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

1 

1,011 

952 

1,963 

163 

114 

277 

2 

811 

776 

1,587 

148 

141 

289 

3 

780 

732 

1,512 

148 

125 

273 

4 

779 

833 

1,612 

107 

114 

221 

6 

847 

676 

1,523 

67 

62 

129 

6 

559 

520 

1,079 

42 

35 

77 

7 

353 

394 

747 

13 

13 

26 

8 

195 

247 

442 

2 

2 

4 

Totals  5,335      5,130       10,465         690         606      1,296 

In  the  various  computations  a  large  number  of  these  blanks 
had  to  be  rejected  for  want  of  sufficient  information,  especially 
those  of  the  parochial  schools,  from  which  not  enough  detailed 
information  was  received  to  warrant  deductions.  In  addition 
to  these  all  records  of  apparent  or  real  abnormalities  due  to  uncon- 
trollable circumstances  were  also  rejected  in  all  computations 
which  involved  the  merits  of  the  educational  system. 


11. 

FlGUKES  OF  EnBOLMENT. 

Since  the  appearance  of  ^'Elimination  of  Pupils  from  School" 
by  Prof.  Thorndike,  much  has  been  said  and  written  concerning 
the  relative  value  of  figures  of  enrolment  throughout  the  grades. 
No  doubt  in  a  number  of  cases  the  system  of  instruction  has 
been  unjustly  criticised  by  not  taking  into  consideration  the  kind 
of  enrolment  dealt  with  and  neglecting  to  consider  the  uncon- 
trollable factors  which  are  the  direct  and  indirect  causes  for  a 
large  per  cent  of  retardation  and  apparent  elimination  found  in 
the  grades.  School  systems  have  been  compared  and  placed  in 
the  scale  of  efficiency  through  computations  based  upon  as  many 
as  ^ye  different  sets  of  enrolment  figures,  each  giving  different 
results  when  applied  to  the  same  system.  Such  discrepancies 
have  been  notably  pointed  out  by  Palkner  in  an  article  pub- 
lished in  The  Psychological  Clinic,  May  15,  1908 ;  and  in  the 
same  journal  for  October  15,  1908,  Ayres  has  pointed  out  the 
uncontrollable  factors  which  must  be  considered  in  the  discus- 
sion of  retardation  and  elimination  of  pupils. 

Another  potent  factor  causing  injustice  and  discrepancies  in 
the  comparison  of  school  systems  is  the  use  of  data  recorded  in 
different  years.  Many  cities  have  made  great  advance  during 
the  last  -Q-ve  years,  and  to  base  their  efficiency  upon  the  records 
of  five  years  ago  is  at  best  a  misrepresentation.  Even  in  two  years 
the  enrolment  in  the  same  grade  may  vary  considerably.  Eor 
instance,  the  enrolment  in  the  third  grade  in  October,  1906,  was 
8.2  per  cent  more  than  in  the  second  grade  for  the  same  year  and 
in  October,  1908,  3.9  per  cent  less,  a  total  fluctuation  of  12.1 
per  cent. 

The  enrolments  found  in  the  various  school  reports  comprise 
four  distinct  classes  of  figures,  viz.,  total  enrolment,  average 
enrolment,  average  enrolment  based  on  average  attendance,  and 
monthly  enrolment.  Another  method  employed  is  that  of  taking 
the  enrolment  on  a  certain  day,  but  as  this  is  essentially  the  same 
as  the  enrolment  for  the  month  in  which  it  was  taken,  it  need 
not  be  considered  separately. 

The  total  enrolment  includes  all  pupils  who  belonged  to 
school  during  the  year  regardless  of  the  number  of  days  they 
attended. 

(12) 


FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT.  13 

The  average  enrolment  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  sum  of  the 
monthly  enrolments  by  the  number  of  months  in  the  school  year. 

The  enrolment  based  on  the  average  attendance  is  computed 
in  essentially  the  same  way  as  the  average  enrolment,  but  on  the 
basis  of  the  average  attendance  in  each  month.  It  is  obviously 
always  the  lowest  enrolment. 

The  monthly  enrolment  includes  all  those  pupils  which 
belonged  to  school  during  each  particular  month.  Since  the  num- 
ber admitted,  the  number  eliminated,  and  the  number  promoted 
vary  considerably  for  the  different  months,  the  monthly  enrol- 
ments also  vary  greatly. 

The  question  now  is,  which  data  of  enrolment  are  the  most 
reliable  and  of  most  value?  With  such  a  diverse  set  of  data  as 
these  different  enrolments  represent,  it  is  evident  that  erroneous 
deductions  and  unjust  criticisms  are  inevitable,  unless  the  hind 
of  data  of  enrolment  used  is  duly  considered.  Especially  is  this 
true  when  the  efficiency  of  the  school  system  is  involved. 

For  instance,  the  total  enrolment  in  the  Reading  public 
schools  during  1907-1908  was  12,785,  the  average  enrolment 
11,686,  the  average  attendance  10,278,  and  the  monthly  enrolment 
varied  from  11,954  in  October  to  11,143  in  June.  Stated  in  terms 
of  differences,  the  total  enrolment  was  831  higher  than  the 
monthly  enrolment  for  October,  the  enrolment  for  October  268 
higher  than  the  average  enrolment,  the  average  enrolment  543 
higher  than  the  enrolment  for  June,  and  the  June  enrolment  865 
higher  than  the  enrolment  based  on  the  average  attendance,  a 
total  difference  between  the  highest  and  lowest  enrolment  of  2507. 

For  computations  of  retardation  and  elimination  the  total 
enrolment  tends  undoubtedly  to  exaggerate  the  former  and  mini- 
mize the  latter.  It  includes  in  the  first  place  all  the  transient 
class  peculiar  to  our  large  cities,  for  whom  the  schools  cannot  be 
held  responsible.  In  the  second  place  the  total  enrolments  are 
likely  to  contain  duplicates  due  to  moving,  promotions,  and  trans- 
fers, of  which  there  were  in  Reading  1230  in  1907-1908. 

In  dealing  with  the  average  enrolment  we  no  doubt  come 
nearer  the  normal  condition  of  the  schools,  the  enrolment  being 
about  the  same  as  for  the  month  of  March.  In  computations 
comparing  one  school  system  with  another,  based  upon  figures  of 
enrolment,  the  average  enrolment  is  the  most  just,  since  it  mini- 
mizes abnormal  local  fluctuations  in  school  conditions.  For  local 
purposes,  however,  this  becomes  an  objection,  since  it  obscures 
essential  knowledge  concerning  abnormalities  with  which  the  school 
authorities  should  be  conversant. 


^ 


14      EXTENT  AND  CAUSE 8  OF  RETARDATION, 

The  average  enrolment  based  upon  the  average  attendance 
is  valuable  in  that  when  compared  w^ith  the  average  enrolment  it 
reveals  in  some  measure  the  part  that  non-attendance  plays  as  a 
factor  in  retardation,  the  extent  of  which  is  pointed  out  in  The 
Psychological  Clinic,  Vol.  Ill,  E"o.  1,  by  Ayres,  and  in  Vol.  Ill, 
No.  4,  by  Mr.  Ralph  L.  Johnson,  Supervising  Principal,  Upper 
Darby,  Pa.  But  for  computations  relative  to  grade  distribution, 
elimination,  etc.,  the  enrolment  based  on  the  average  attendance 
should  not  be  used,  since  lack  of  attendance  in  some  elementary 
schools  is  more  than  twice  as  high  in  the  first  three  grades  as  in 
the  upper  -^Ye.  This  considerably  minimizes  the  enrolment  in 
the  lower  grades  as  compared  with  the  upper  grades. 
/  Unquestionably  the  monthly  enrolments  are  of  the  greatest 

value.  Because  of  their  diversities,  they  must  be  considered  at 
some  length.  It  is  obvious  that  with  a  difference  of  over  eight 
hundred  between  the  highest  and  lowest  monthly  enrolment  in  a 
school  population  of  approximately  twelve  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred, the  computations  based  upon  the  October  enrolment,  let  us 
say,  will  vary  decidedly  from  those  derived  from  the  enrolment 
for  June. 


Table  II. — Enrolment  of  Males  and  Females  in  Each  Grade 
OF  THE  Public  Schools  in  October,  1907. 


Grade 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Grade 

Male 

Female 

Total 

1 

994 

969 

1,963 

7 

338 

^78 

716 

2 

871 

795 

1,666 

8 

241 

264 

496 

3 

872 

862 

1,734 

9 

214 

237 

451 

4 

916 

824 

1,740 

10 

131 

149 

280 

6 

807 

691 

1,498 

11 

62 

79 

141 

6 

629 

669 

1,098 

12 

45 

85 

130 

Total    6,020       5,892      11,912 


A  study  of  the  monthly  enrolments  for  ten  years  showed  the 
highest  enrolment  to  be,  on  the  average,  for  the  month  of  October, 
although  differing  but  little  from  that  of  !N"ovember.  In  October, 
1907,  the  enrolment  was  .2  per  cent  higher  than  in  September, 
but  from  then  on  until  June  there  was  a  gradual  total  decrease 
of  10  per  cent  in  the  elementary  grades.  As  shown,  in  table  II 
there  is  also  a  decided  difference  between  the  number  of  males 


FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT. 


15 


1000 


800 


600 


400 


200 


Ie 


2      3 


8       8      10     11     12 


Diagram  1.     The  approximate  number  of  males  and  females 
in  each  grade. 


cal  relations  are  shown  in  diagram  1. 


and  females  en- 
rolled in  grades 
two,  four,  and  five, 
and  in  each  of  the 
first  five  grades  the 
number  of  males 
exceeds  the  num- 
ber of  females,  a 
total  difference  of 
319.  But  in  all 
grades  above  the 
fifth  the  number 
of  females  exceeds 
the  number  of 
males  by  a  total 
of  191.  Their  ap- 
proximate numeri- 


Table  III. — Changes  in  Enrolment  from  September  to  June 

During  1907-1908  in  the  First  Four  Grades.     (The 

Minus  Sign  Eepresents  a  Decrease.) 


Sept.  to  Oct.  .. 

4.4  per  cent     Sept.  to  March. 

3.3  percent 

Sept.  to  'EoY .  . 

4.7       "            Sept.  to  April..— 

2.1       " 

Sept.  to  Dec. . 

4.5       "           Sept.  to  May...— 

4.6       " 

Sept.  to  Jan.  . 

6.8       "            Sept.  to  June..— 

8.9       " 

Sept.  to  Feb.  . 

10.7       " 

Computing  the  percentages  of  change  in  monthly  enrolment 
in  each  grade  from  September  to  June,  1907-1908,  shows  that  the 
enrolment  in  the  first  four  grades  increases  about  4  per  cent  in 
October,  then  remains  constant  until  January,  when  there  is 
another  increase  of  about  2  per  cent,  followed  by  an  increase 
of  4  per  cent  in  February.  From  then  on  to  the  end  of  the  year 
the  enrolment  decreases  uninterruptedly  19.6  per  cent.  The  Feb- 
ruary enrolment  is  by  far  the  largest  in  these  four  grades.  But 
taking  the  October  enrolment,  which  was  4.4  per  cent  greater 
than  in  September,  and  which  represents  more  nearly  the  normal 
condition  in  the  first  four  grades,  we  have  a  total  decrease  of  13.3 
per  cent  from  October  to  June. 


16       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

Table  TV. — Changes  ia^  Enrolment  (Pee  Cent)  from  Sep- 
tember 1907,  to  June  1908,  in  Grades 
Five,  Six,  Seven  and  Eight. 


Fhe 

Six 

Seven 

Eight 

Sept.  to  Oct. . . 

—1.1 

—     .6 

—     .8 

—     .2 

Sept.  to  ]Srov .  . . 

.     —1.1 

—  2.1 

—  2.2 

—  2.3 

Sept.  to  Dec.  . . 

1.2 

3.7 

4,8 

—  3.3 

Sept.  to  Jan.  .  . 

1.9 

—  6.0 

—  6.1 

7.1 

Sept.  to  Feb .  .  . 

.9 

—  7.4 

—  7.7 

—  7.1 

Sept.  to  Mar. .  . 

—  .6 

—11.5 

—10.8 

—  7.7 

Sept.  to  Apr.  .  . 

—3.9 

14.2 

16.2 

—14.0 

Sept.  to  May.  .. 

—5.7 

—16.6 

—18.6 

—17.3 

Sept.  to  June.  . 

—7.8 

—19.7 

—22.9 

—19.3 

Since  midyear  promotions  are  made  only  in  the  first  five 
grades,  the  last  grade  to  show  their  effect  is  the  fifth.  The  enrol- 
ment increased  approximately  2  per  cent  in  January,  but  by  June 
it  had  decreased  to  7.8  per  cent  less  than  the  September  enrolment. 

In  grades  six,  seven,  and  eight  there  is  an  uninterrupted, 
total  average  decrease  of  20.6  per  cent  from  September  to  June. 
But  the  exodus  of  boys  and  girls  in  these  grades  is  by  far  the 
largest  in  December  and  March.  In  the  eighth  grade  from  a 
total  elimination  of  19.3  per  cent  from  September  to  June, 
approximately  one7half  left  during  the  months  of  December  and 
March.  In  the  seventh  grade,  out  of  a  total  elimination  of  22.9 
per  cent,  one-third  left  during  E"ovember  and  March ;  in  the  sixth 
grade,  of  the  19.7  per  cent  eliminated,  one-fourth  left  during 
December  and  February;  and  in  the  fifth  grade  one-third  of  the 
eliminated  left  in  March. 

In  order  to  give  an  approximate  idea  of  the  relative  value  of 
the  different  monthly  enrolments,  the  enrolments  for  October, 
February,  and  June  are  compared  schematically  in  diagram  2, 
based  upon  the  deviations  from  the  September  enrolment.  The 
zero  line  represents  the  enrolment  in  September,  the  enrolments 
for  October,  February,  and  June  being  represented  respectively  by 
the  solid,  broken,  and  dotted  lines.  The  enrolments  •  for  these 
months  were  selected,  because  they  represent  the  highest  and  lowest 
enrolments,  and  show  the  influence  of  midyear  promotions. 

It  is  at  once  apparent  that  with  two  exceptions  the  June 
enrolment  in  each  of  the  eight  elementary  grades  was  consider- 


FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT, 


17 


ably  less  than  in  September  and  October.  As  stated  above,  it 
was  543  less  than  the  October  enrolment.  The  curves  show  that 
the  enrolment  in  the  first  four  grades  changes  but  little  during 
the  year  as  compared  with  the  decided  decrease  in  the  upper 
grades.  Since  elimination  is  greatest  among  the  retarded,  it  is 
thus  evident  that  the  June  enrolment  minimizes  retardation  and 
exaggerates  elimination  in  grades  six  to  eight,  just  the  reverse 
of  the  computations  based  upon  the  total  enrolment. 


d 
S    2 


1^^ 
fe  20 


22 


M-^ 


12346678 
Diagram  2.     Relative  value  of  October,  February  and  June  enrolments,    based   on 
deviation  from  September  enrolment,  represented    respectively  by  the   solid, 
broken,  and  dotted  lines. 

In  February  the  enrolment  in  grades  two,  four,  and  five 
increased  considerably,  especially  in  grade  four  which  had  an 
increase  of  119.  This  means  a  temporarily  abnormal  condition 
for  these  grades,  but  which  by  the  end  of  the  year  may  be.  at 
least  partially  overcome.  On  account  of  this  added  congestion 
in  the  lower  grades,  therefore,  it  is  also  not  fair  to  take  the  Feb- 
ruary enrolment  for  comparison  in  a  system  of  this  kind,  since 
it  exaggerates  the  retardation  in  these  grades.  For  grades  six 
to  eight,  however,  the  February  enrolment  represents  about  the 
average  condition  and  is  a  truer  index  of  the  average  amount  of 
retardation  than  the  enrolment  for  October  or  l^ovember. 


18       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

^  \  Everything  considered  as  far  as  this  investigation  goes,  the 

October  or  JN^ovember  enrolments  are  the  fairest  and  most  valuable. 
In  the  first  place  they  can  be  obtained  early  in  the  year  and  there- 
fore are  of  immediate  use.  Secondly,  these  enrolments  represent 
the  time  of  the  year  w^hen  the  schools  are  more  generally  normal 
and  less  influenced  by  temporary  local  fluctuations.  Thirdly, 
next  to  the  total  enrolment  they  represent  the  highest  enrolment 
and  at  most  the  number  of  duplications  is  very  small. 

In  Vol.  II,  No.  5,  of  Tlie  Psycliological  Clinic,  Ayres  in  an 
article  on  '^Some  Factors  afl'ecting  Grade  Distribution,"  points 
out  that  the  annual  increase  in  the  population  is  a  factor  in  modi- 
fying grade  distribution.  He  says:  "If  children  enter  at  the  age 
of  seven  they  will  be  at  least  fourteen  upon  reaching  the  eighth 
grade,  and  we  shall  not  be  far  out  of  the  way  if  we  state  that 
under  perfect  school  conditions  of  progress  and  retention  of 
pupils  we  could  in  no  case  expect  to  find  more  than  87  per  cent 
as  many  children  in  the  eighth  grade  as  in  the  first.  This  is  a 
constant  and  very  considerable  factor  in  bringing  about  disparity 
in  the  number  of  the  children  in  the  several  grades,  and  it  is 
one  which  has  been  entirely  overlooked  in  much  of  the  current 
discussion  of  the  problem.''  He  finds  that  for  every  one  thousand 
children  in  the  first  grade  we  can  expect  only  871  in  the  eighth 
grade  under  perfectly  normal  conditions,  considering  only  the 
death  rate  and  the  increase  in  population  as  the  factors  causing 
this  disparity.  The  effect  of  the  increase  in  population  alone  upon 
the  successive  grades  is  given  as  11,  28,  50,  64,  77,  88,  and  102 
per  thousand,  a  total  difference  of  420  over  the  supposititious 
eight  thousand  that  would  be  in  the  eight  elementary  grades  if 
there  were  no  elimination. 

Probably  this  is  a  fair  allowance  under  general  conditions ; 
but  as  Ayres  says:  "The  age  distribution  of  the  population  is 
not  uniform  throughout  the  country.  In  some  localities  in  fact 
very  considerable  variations  are  found."  The  city  of  Reading 
apparently  seems  to  be  one  of  these  exceptions.  According  to 
Ayres'  computations,  for  every  1000  children  in  the  first  grade 
one  year  there  should  be  1011  the  following  year  under  the  same 
conditions,  1028  the  next  year,  1050  the  fourth,  and  in  six  years 
there  should  have  been  an  increase  of  77  or  7.7  per  cent.  Like- 
wise the  other  grades  should  have  increased  proportionally. 

Computing  the  percentages  of  change  in  each  grade  for  the 
month  of  October  from  1903  to  1908  reveals  directly  opposite 
results.     During  these  six  years  the  enrolment  in  the  first  grade 


PubUc  Schools 

Parochial  Schools 

Total 

11,101 

926 

12,027 

10,999 

1,230 

12,228 

11,267 

1,244 

12,511 

10,995 

1,398 

12,393 

10,910 

1,510 

12,420 

10,687 

1,454 

12,141 

FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT.  19 

decreased  6.1  per  cent,  and  in  the  second  grade  4.9  per  cent. 
Grades  three  and  four  increased  respectively  .8  per  cent  and  8.6 
per  cent,  but  the  number  in  grades  five  and  six  again  decreased  7 
per  cent  and  23.7  per  cent.  Grades  seven  and  eight,  and  the  high 
school  show  the  encouraging  although  abnormal  increase  of  3.5, 
11.0,  and  41.2  per  cent. 

Table  V. — Exkolment  in  the  Elementary  Grades  in  Octo- 
ber FOR  the  Years  1903  to  1908. 


1903 

1904, 

1905 

1906 

1907, 

1908 


The  total  enrolment  for  October  in  the  elementary  public 
schools,  as  shown  in  the  above  table,  decreased  102  in  1904  and 
in  1905  increased  268.  But  during  the  last  three  years  it  again 
decreased  272,  85,  and  223  respectively. 

During  these  same  years  the  enrolment  in  the  parochial 
schools  increased  with  but  one  exception,  and  in  1904  and  1906 
rather  decidedly,  due  to  the  opening  of  two  additional  schools. 
But  in  October,  1908,  the  enrolment  decreased  56,  as  in  the  pub- 
lic schools. 

Comparing  the  decided  increase  of  314  in  the  enrolment  in 
the  parochial  schools  in  October,  1904,  with  the  simultaneous 
decrease  of  only  102  in  the  public  schools,  it  seems  as  though  a 
considerable  number  of  the  289  pupils  enrolled  at  the  opening 
of  the  Polish  parochial  school  at  this  time  were  drawn  from  a 
source  that  little  affected  the  enrolment  in  the  public  schools.  It 
no  doubt  was  a  wise  step  and  brought  many  into  the  school  room 
who  otherwise  would  have  remained  outside.  On  the  contrary 
the  opening  of  St.  Joseph's  parochial  school  in  1906  seems  to 
have  drawn  its  167  pupils  largely  from  those  previously  registered 
in  the  public  schools,  since  in  October  of  this  same  year  there  was 
the  decided  decrease  of  272  in  the  latter. 

To  justify  Ayres'  deductions  and  to  explain  this  abnormally 
large  decrease  in  the  elementary  grades  of  the  public  schools  dur- 
ing these  years,  it  becomes  necessary  to  find  out,  if  possible,  the 
cause  for  this  diminution  in  the  enrolment.     Our  first  thought 


20       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

would  direct  us  to  a  possible  change  in  the  enrolment  in  the 
parochial  schools.  But  even  this  does  not  account  for  the  loss. 
As  shown  in  table  V*,  the  enrolment  including  both  public  and 
private  schools  increased  484  from  1903  to  1905,  an  average 
increase  of  242.  But  from  1905  to  1908  the  enrolment  decreased 
370,  an  average  decrease  of  123  for  three  years. 

Further  analysis  of  the  percentages  of  change  in  the  enrol- 
ment in  each  grade  during  1903  to  1908  throws  more  light  on 
this  diminution.  It  reveals  decided  fluctuations  not  only  in  the 
enrolment  in  the  same  grade  for  the  different  years,  but  also 
between  the  numbers  of  boys  and  girls. 

The  average  change  in  the  enrolment  in  the  first  grade  during 
these  years  shows  that  the  number  of  boys  decreased  4.6  per  cent 
and  the  number  of  girls  7.5  per  cent,  an  average  decrease  of  6.1 
per  cent.  In  the  second  grade  there  was  an  average  decrease  of 
3.7  per  cent  in  the  number  of  boys  and  6.2  per  cent  in  the  number 
of  girls. 

The  average  amount  of  change  from  1903  to  1908  in  grades 
three  and  four  shows  an  increase  of  .8  per  cent  in  the  former  and 
8.6  per  cent  in  the  latter,  and  a  marked  difference  between  male 
and  female.  The  number  of  boys  in  the  fourth  grade  increased 
only  .1  per  cent,  while  the  number  of  girls  increased  17.2  per 
cent. 

This  increase  took  place  in  the  years  1903  to  1906,  and  some 
of  it  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  regrading  of  the  schools  and  a 
change  in  the  course  of  study.  But  judging  from  the  enrolments 
in  grades  one  and  two  for  October,  1903  and  1904,  it  looks  as 
though  the  course  of  study  or  method  of  teaching  in  the  first  two 
grades  were  better  adapted  for  the  progress  of  the  girl  than  the 
boy.  Furthermore,  the  computation  of  the  length  of  time  spent 
in  the  respective  grades  during  1906  to  1908  partly  verifies  this 
deduction.  Only  1.7  per  cent  of  the  boys  as  against  2.6  per  cent 
of  the  girls  completed  the  first  grade  in  half  a  year;  45.2  per  cent 
of  the  boys  and  50.6  per  cent  of  the  girls  completed  it  in  one 
year;  while  34  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  only  28.4  per  cent  of  the 
girls  were  in  the  first  grade  two  years  and  longer. 

In  grades  five  and  six  there  were  such  decided  fiuctuations 
that  definite  deductions  are  unwarranted.  [N'evertheless  two  things 
are  apparent,  first  the  number  of  girls  has  considerably  diminished 
while  the  number  of  boys  has  slightly  increased.      Taken  as  a 


*This  does  not  include  the  enrolment  in  the  German  parochial  school,  it  being 
impossible  to  obtain  the  enrolment  for  these  years.  But  since  the  number 
enrolled  does  not  exceed  75,  the  possible  changes  are  almost  negligibly  small. 


FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT,  21 

whole  the  enrolment  in  these  grades  has  greatly  decreased.  One 
explanation  for  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  effort  to  overcome  the 
congestion  in  these  grades  due  first  to  midyear  promotions  extend- 
ing only  up  to  the  fifth  grade,  and  secondly  to  recruits  from  the 
parochial  schools.  One  of  the  parochial  schools  taught  only  the 
first  four  grades  and  another  only  the  first  five,  but  tv^o  years  have 
since  been  added  to  the  course  of  the  former  and  one  to  the  latter. 
Moreover,  in  October,  1906,  there  was  an  increase  in  the  enrol- 
ment in  the  fifth  grade  of  2.3  per  cent  and  in  1907  an  increase 
of  2.7  per  cent  in  the  sixth  grade,  thus  continuing  the  successive 
upward  increase  due  to  the  regrading  of  the  schools  in  1902-1903. 

Grades  seven  and  eight  varied  even  more  than  the  two  pre- 
ceding grades  in  the  number  enrolled,  the  enrolment  in  the  former 
having  increased  3.5  per  cent  in  these  six  years,  and  in  the  latter 
11.0  per  cent.  During  these  same  years  the  enrolment  in  both 
high  schools  increased  with  but  one  exception,  in  October,  1908, 
the  enrolment  in  the  Girls'  High  School  was  7.6  per  cent  less 
than  in  the  preceding  year.  Since  1903  the  enrolment  in  the 
Boys'  High  School  increased  55.4  per  cent,  and  in  the  Girls'  High 
School  27  per  cent. 

When  these  computations  are  considered  as  a  whole,  three 
things  become  evident:  1.  The  regrading  of  the  schools  and  a 
change  in  the  course  of  study  caused  abnormally  large  fluctuations 
throughout  the  grades,  but  obviously  for  the  better.  2.  There 
has  been  a  successive  upward  increase  in  the  enrolment  from  the 
lower  to  the  upper  grades  from  1903  to  1908.  3.  The  boys  on 
the  average  lost  more  time  in  the  lower  grades  than  the  girls. 

In  the  second  deduction  we  have  found  at  least  one  factor 
which  contributed  toward  the  diminution  of  the  enrolment  in 
the  elementary  gTades  during  the  last  three  years.  This  is  more 
clearly  shown  in  a  further  comparison  of  the  monthly  enrolment 
for  October  with  the  average  enrolment  for  these  years.  In 
October,  1907,  the  enrolment  was  6.6  per  cent  greater  than  the 
average  enrolment  for  the  year.  In  October,  1906,  it  was  only 
5.1  per  cent  greater;  in  1905,  4  per  cent  greater;  in  1904,  3.6 
per  cent  greater ;  and  in  1903  only  .7  per  cent  greater.  In  other 
words,  since  1903  the  difference  between  the  monthly  enrolment 
for  October  and  the  average  yearly  enrolment  has  been  gradually 
increasing,  a  total  change  of  5.9  per  cent. 

What  is  the  explanation  for  this  increase  in  the  difference 


22       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

between  the  enrolments  under  question,  and  has  it  reached  its 
maximum?  No  doubt  the  main  explanation  for  this  change  is 
found  in  the  cooperation  of  two  forces,  one  psychical,  influencing 
parent  and  child  alike,  and  the  other  in  the  regrading  of  the 
schools  and  the  course  of  study.  In  1902-1903,  when  the  public 
elementary  schools  were  regraded  and  the  course  of  study  com- 
pletely changed,  the  whole  city  was  stirred  to  an  enthusiasm  for 
education  and  a  more  general  appreciation  of  the  opportunities 
offered  by  the  public  schools.  This  accounts  for  the  unusual 
similarity  between  the  enrolment  in  October,  1903,  and  the  aver- 
age enrolment  for  that  year.  It  means  that  there  was  such  a 
general  local  revival  of  interest  in  learning  as  to  produce  abnormal 
conditions,  quite  obviously  for  the  better,  which  are  still  being  felt, 
although  in  a  lessened  degree.  Whether  or  not  the  normal  has 
been  reached,  or  whether  the  difference  will  continue  to  increase, 
the  statistics  of  the  next  few  years  will  tell. 


School  Cei^sus. 

In  compiling  the  school  census  various  assumptions  in  regard 
to  an  age  standard  are  possible,  each  one  giving  different  results. 
It  is  obvious  that  if  we  call  a  child  six  years  of  age  during  the 
lapse  of  time  from  its  sixth  to  its  seventh  birthday  we  obtain 
results  quite  different  from  those  calculated  on  a  basis  of  five  years 
ten  months  to  six  years  nine  months. 

This  may  in  part  explain  the  marked  discrepancy  between 
the  census  of  the  Reading  public  schools  taken  on  December  1, 
1908,  and  the  school  census  shown  in  table  YI,  taken  from  the 
blanks.  Since  the  total  enrolment  in  the  elementary  grades, 
according  to  this  former  census,  was  1500  less  than  the  actual 
enrolment  in  these  grades  in  I^ovember,  it  is  evident  that  decided 
omissions  have  been  made.  A  further  comparison  of  these  two 
tables  shows  that  all  the  pupils  under  six  years  were  either 
omitted,  or  were  called  six  years  old.  The  latter  method  seems 
to  have  been  pursued  by  some  teachers,  as  shown  by  the  fact  that 
in  a  number  of  cases  on  the  blanks  handed  in,  a  child  five  years 
old  upon  entrance  was  called  six  years  of  age  for  two  successive 
years. 


FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT. 


23 


3 

"-iCOOOlNCO-^COO 

i   g 

00 

'      ?5 

o 

00  »o  ■*  o  •*_  q,  t^  Tt< 

o 

5 

1      S 

H 

o 

CO 

co" 

"sS 

P^ 

:? 

o 

CO 

1      eo 

I 

!       ost^t>.ooi©»oeo(N 

o 

eo 

co^ 

I         m 

S 

! 

CO    "^ 

iO  o 

CO*  T*( 

CO    '^ 

I         *'   00 

i                 CO 

o  2 

»0   CO 

00  o 

t^ 

■    C4 

»o 

IH 

co" 

QO 

P=J 

1-t 

^ 

s 

'^ 

tH 

^ 

l^ 

Ph 

rH 

- 

i-H 

§ 

r-l 

'-' 

1-1 

pci' 

N  «o 

00 

00 

1 

T-< 

1-1 

«D 

OS 

OS 

1 

^ 

s 

eo  00 

^  1^ 

^  c^ 

fsi 

<N   CO   CO   OS   (N 

OS 

OS 

>o 

CO 

^  <N 

^   <N 

CS| 

<N 

VH 

^   <N   CO  OS   CO   »0 

CO  '-' 

CO   ^ 

.«5 

'^                 »-l   M    (N 

t^ 

t^ 

P^' 

-"      ^25§g 

§ 

CO 

o 

00 

s 

""I* 

<N    (N 

-H    OJ 

eo 

<N 

t" 

>* 

,-<   lO  t^  O   W   iC 

CO 

OS    ^ 

§ 

CO   i-t 

S' 

r«<    ^    U5 

CO 

w 

CO 

C^   1-1   00   »0   «3   00 

tH    i-I 

<N 

o 

(N 

(Z4 

(N  l>   O 

CO    OS 

■* 

(N 

CO 

"':5§§g 

00  »o 

■^  M 

^s 

co§ 

^ 

1-t  fO 

00 

U5 

CO 

P^' 

^ggg 

sSF 

|o 

« 

§ 

^^ 

N 

C^    OS 

'^  2 

»0   OS   (N   OS   00 

00  Osib. 

t*  ^ 

CO  CO 

OS 

i-»^ 

s 

■<*<    r|H    OS 

t^  o:<N 

g  ^ 

JS 

§5 

N 

pci 

"2§g§ 

gg 

%^ 

is 

s 

g 

00 

»-( 

C^   OS 

«   OS 

s^ 

i-t 

IC    Tjt    t^    CO 

8§ 

-H  eo 

(N  ^- 

OS  J§ 

osS 

S 

CO    COO 

eo 

5 

^ 

« 

. 

^    kO   IC 

(N  co;>o  00  M 

:i. 

^ 

« 

U5 

P^ 

rH    CO    N 

■*  00:-* 

t^ 

(N 

»o 

o 

o  o  »o 

coS 

O.S 

S 

-    ti  -* 

(N 

t^ 

CO 

(N  ^: 

o 

(N 

CO 

1 

(N    »C 

;2§iJ5^ 

^ 

t>. 

»o 

OS 

fi<     1 

M   00 

sg. 

o 

1-1 

eo 

(N  <n; 

■*   CO 

g" 

o> 

00 

CO 

• 

tf)  00 

OS   OS't*  CO 

c^  T-T 

Tjl    (N 

00  w 

g 

(N   "* 

CO  ^.;N 

e< 

t^ 

CO 

^ 

■^ 

«o 

00   COJN   N 

^ 

(O 

1-1 

3 

P^' 

OO 

lO 

M 

S   (N 

N   M  '• 

CO  -"Jt 

»o 

'O  e^ 

QO 

S 

s 

CO  eo:co 

|S. 

1^' 

00   IM 

CO  »o 

00 

o 

^ 

P^' 

l>   (N 

CO 

s  °° 

(N   CO 

CO    CO  . 

E5 

t^ 

,_( 

q. 

g 

(N   CO 

00   1-1 

s  ^ 

(O  '-' 

OS 

<N   (N 

Tj< 

■* 

(n:«c 

t^ 

<N 

Ui 

pR 

t^:co 

s^ 

CO 

fO 

iciio 

g* 

lO   OS 

s 

eo:(N 

CO 

(N 

■*; 

■* 

■* 

p^' 

s 

Soo 

Sg 

>o 

s 

s 

g^ 

S" 

"3    : 

;     ; 

"3    * 

o 

O  (zl 

■if^ 

Spsi 

1 

,-l(NCO-<l<"5«Ol^00 

1^'    : 

a  ^ 

"?  ^ 

o 

cr 

«§ 

^S 

3  = 

3 

3 . 

"3 

1 

o 

o  - 

o  ■■ 

^  - 

Ph 

H 

H 

H 

24:      EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 


Grade 


Per  cent 


17.9 


15.4 


14.6 


16.0 


14.1 


10.33 


7.2 


Diagram  3. 


The  average  stand- 
ard is  on  the  basis 
of  six  years  ten 
months  to  seven  years 
nine  months  for  the 
seven  year  old  child, 
seven  years  ten 
months  to  eight  years 
nine  months  for  the 
eight  year  old  child, 
and  so  on.  In  table 
VI  and  diagram  3  the 
same  standard  is  as- 
sumed. 

Of  the  10,465 
names  of  pupils  re- 
corded on  the  blanks 
returned  by  the 
teachers  of  the  public 
schools,  308  had  to 
be  omitted  for  want 
of  sufficient  data  to 
compute  the  exact 
age  in  years  and 
months,  leaving  a  to- 
tal  of   10,157.     The 


Distribution  of  10,157  pupils  accord- 
ing to  grade. 

age  distribution  of 
these  children  is  shown  in  the  following  table  (VII)  and  dia- 
gram (4). 

Table  VII. — Distbibutioi^  Accorditstg  to  Age. 


Age 

Number 

Percent   1 

Age 

Number 

Per  cent 

5 

118 

1.2 

13 

972 

9.5 

6 

997 

9.8 

14 

422 

4.1 

7 

1,118 

11.0 

15 

122 

1.2 

8 

1,274 

12.6 

16 

29 

0.3 

9 

1,183 

11.6 

17 

1 

.005 

10 

1,290 

12.7 

18 

1 

.005 

11 

1,300 

12.8 

12  . 

1,330 

13.1 

Totals 

10,157 

100.00 

The  ages  varied  from  five  to  eighteen  years.  One  hundred 
and  eighteen  entered  at  five  years  of  age,  which  is  approximately 
the  same  number  as  those  fifteen  years  of  age.     The  number  six 


FIGURES  OF  ENROLMENT.    V        ""'^'"'^S'       J 


1400 


1200 


1000 


800 


400 


200 


d 


5       6       7       8       9      10     11     12     13     14     15     16     17  g  18 
Diagram  4.     Distribution  oi  10,157  pupils  according  to  age. 

years  of  age  and  the  number  thirteen  years  of  age  also  approxi- 
mate each  other.  The  same  is  true  of  the  ages  eight,  nine,  ten, 
eleven,  and  twelve,  the  highest  number  enrolled  being  twelve  years 
of  age.  The  diminution  of  3.6  per  cent  from  the  twelve  year 
olds  to  the  thirteen  year  olds  is  undoubtedly  due  to  a  number 
leaving  school  at  the  age  of  twelve.  Even  if  we  assume  that  all 
the  children  twelve  years  old  and  less  in  the  eighth  grade  enter 
the  high  schools,  we  still  have  a  reduction  of  approximately  2.5 
per  cent. 

Since  the  thirteen  year  olds  are  scattered  throughout  the 
grades  and  the  fourteen  year  olds  in  all  but  the  first  grade,  the 
great  amount  of  elimination  at  these  ages  is  not  shown  in  a  table 
or  diagram  based  upon  the  distribution  by  grade.  But  in  dia- 
gram 4  which  shows  the  relative  number  and  distribution  on  the 
age  basis,  the  great  efflux  at  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  fourteen 
is  clearly  demonstrated.  From  the  twelve  year  olds  to  the  four- 
teen year  olds  there  is  a  diminution  of  358  and  from  the  thirteen 
year  olds  to  the  fourteen  year  olds  a  reduction  of  550.  Deduct- 
ing from  these  numbers  156  who  are  thirteen  years  of  age  and  143 
fourteen  years  of  age  in  the  eighth  grade,  minus  the  average  per 
cent  of  those  who  are  eliminated  in  this  grade,  and  assuming  the 
remainder  to  enter  the  High  School,  we  have  approximately  215 
who  leave  school  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years  and  430  at  the  age 
of  fourteen. 


Pctg.  of 

Pctg.  of 

Total  No.  of 

Total 

Students 

Population 

86.45 

18.4 

7.02 

1.4 

4.15 

.88 

1.02 

.21 

.805 

.17 

.18 

.03 

.34 

.07 

III. 

Eetardation. 

In  the  World's  WorTc  for  May,  1909,  Mr.  James  P.  Monroe 
in  the  first  of  a  series  of  articles  on  educational  problems  submits 
I  he  following  table  : 


Schools  No.  of 

Students 

Elementary  public 16,069,305 

Elementary  private    1,304,547 

Secondary  high,  public.  .  .  .  771,687 

Secondary  prep.,  private.  .  190,099 

Universities  and  colleges..  149,700 

Technological   schools 33,700 

Professional   schools 63,256 

Totals 18,582,294  99.965  21.16 

A  mere  glance  at  the  table  shows  that  the  commonly  used 
phrase  "popular  education"  is  certainly  a  misnomer.  With  an 
enrolment  of  only  4  per  cent  in  the  public  high  schools  as  com- 
pared with  an  enrolment  of  86  per  cent  in  the  elementary 
schools,  the  need  of  research  along  this  line  becomes  at  once 
apparent.  But  even  this  does  not  show  the  real  facts  in  the  case, 
since  it  deals  only  with  general  problems.  They  are  not  detailed 
enough  to  be  of  real  constructive  value  in  the  elementary  grades, 
where  elimination  prevails  in  all  our  large  cities.  At  the  root 
of  elimination  is  the  kindred  problem  of  retardation,  which  means 
that  the  children  concerned  are  above  normal  age  for  their  grade. 

That  these  two  factors  are  cooperative  is  sho^\Ti  by  the  fact 
that  of  the  48  per  cent  of  boys  and  girls  who  left  the  fifth  and 
sixth  grades  to  go  to  work,  nearly  one-half  (49  per  cent)  repeated 
from  one  to  two  years,  and  nearly  one-sixth  (about  15  per  cent) 

(26) 


RETARDATION.  27 

repeated,  three  years,   as  over  against  the  3  per  cent  who  con- 
tinued to  the  eighth  grade. 

The  question  of  what  constitutes  "normal  age"  for  the  differ- 
ent grades  has  been  variously  fixed  from  six  to  nine  years  for  the 
first  grade,  but  whatever  the  basis,  the  selection  must  be  more  or 
less  arbitrary.  The  consensus  of  opinion,  however,  seems  to  be  that 
all  pupils  of  the  first  grade  under  eight  years  of  age  are  of  normal 
age;  above  that  age  they  are  retarded.  This  is  a  fair  assumption, 
because  comparatively  few  enter  the  first  grade  at  eight  years  of 
age  or  over,  and  relatively  many  enter  the  first  grade  at  the  age 
of  seven.  But  it  seems  that  there  ought  to  be  not  only  a  maximum 
age  standard  for  the  normal  children  in  the  different  grades,  but 
also  a  minimum,  thus  dividing  the  pupils  into  three  classes,  the 
retarded,  or  those  above  normal  age  for  the  grade,  those  of  normal 
age,  and  those  below  normal  age. 

In  this  treatise,  therefore,  all  pupils  eight  years  of  age  and  I  y/ 
over  in  the  first  grade,  nine  years  and  over  in  the  third,  and  so  on,  ' 
are  called  retarded.  All  pupils  between  the  ages  six  and  seven  in 
the  first  grade,  seven  and  eight  in  the  second,  and  so  on,  are 
classed  as  of  normal  age.  All  pupils  below  six  years  in  the  first 
grade,  below  seven  years  in  the  second,  and  so  on,  are  classed  as 
below  normal  age. 

The  progress  of  the  two  sexes  throughout  the  grades  seems 
to  be  unequal.  The  boys  gradually  fall  behind.  Although  only 
1.0  per  cent  more  of  the  boys  than  of  the  girls  of  the  first  grade 
are  retarded,  by  the  time  the  eighth  grade  is  completed  there  is  a 
total  difference  of  8.1  per  cent.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  pupils  of  normal  age,  with  but  one  exception, — in  the 
eighth  grade  the  number  of  boys  of  normal  age  is  3.2  per  cent 
greater  than  the  number  of  girls.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
more  of  the  retarded  girls  fourteen  years  and  over  continue  to  the 
eighth  grade  than  of  the  boys. 

The  proof  of  this  is  demonstrated  by  a  comparison  of  the 
number  of  boys  and  girls  retarded  in  grades  fiYe,  seven,  and  eight. 
From  a  difference  of  10.7  per  cent  in  the  fifth  grade,  there  remains 
a  difference  of  only  6.0  per  cent  in  the  seventh,  and  only  1.0  per 
cent  in  the  eighth. 


28       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 
Table  VIII. — Pupils  Above  Normal  Age  in  Each  Geade. 

Grade  Number  Per  cent 

M.  F.  Total  M.  F.  Average 

1  131         124         255  14.9         13.3         14.1 


2 

267 

145 

412 

33.7 

18.8 

26.3 

3 

274 

213 

487 

35.7 

29.8 

32.8 

4 

391 

321 

712 

48.0 

39.6 

43.8 

6 

381 

253 

634 

49.4 

38.7 

44.1 

6 

195 

157 

352 

36.2 

30.9 

33.6 

7 

81 

69 

150 

23.5 

17.5 

20.5 

8 

35 

48 

83 

18.1 

17.1 

17.9 

Totals         1735       1330       3085  34.4         26.3         30.4 

Table  IX. — Pupils  of  I^^ormal  Age  in  Each  Grade. 

Grade  Number  Per  cent 


M. 

F. 

Total 

M. 

F. 

Average 

1 

690 

750 

1440 

78.5 

80.3 

79.2 

2 

500 

590 

1090 

63.2 

76.6 

69.9 

3 

476 

468 

944 

61.9 

65.6 

63.8 

4 

390 

442 

832 

47.9 

54.6 

51.3 

5 

365 

364 

729 

47.2 

55.4 

51.3 

6 

307 

304 

611 

57.0 

59.8 

58.4 

7 

227 

272 

499 

66.0 

69.6 

67.8 

8 

128 

171 

299 

66.3 

63.1 

64.7 

Totals        3083       3361       6444  60.4         66.5         63.5 


Table  X. — Pupils  Below  Xormal  Age  in  Each  Grade. 

tOrade  Number 

M.  F.  Total 


58  60  118 


25 

35 

60 

18 

33 

51 

33 

47 

80 

28 

39 

67 

37 

47 

84 

Per  cent 

M. 

F. 

A vera J 

6.6 

6.4 

6.5 

3.1 

4.6 

3.9 

2.4 

4.6 

3.5 

4.1 

5.8 

4.9 

3.6 

5.9 

4.8 

6.8 

9.3 

8.1 

36  50  86  10.5         12.9         11.7 

'30  52  82  15.6         19.2         17.4 


Total  265         363         628  5.2  7.2  6.2 


RETARDATION. 


29 


Diagram  5.     Per  cent  of  male  (black  bars)  and  female  (white  bars)  retarded 
in  each  grade. 


Diagram  6.     Per  cent  of  male  and  female  of  normal  age  in  each  grade. 


1  2  3  4  5  6  7 

Diagram  7.     Per  cent  of  male  and  female  below  normal  age  in  each  grade. 


30       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

The  variations  between  boys  and  girls  are  shown  more  for- 
cibly in  diagram  5.  Besides  showing  the  relative  inequality 
between  the  number  of  boys  retarded  and  the  number  of  girls 
retarded,  the  curves  show  that  the  retardation  among  the  boys 
increases  steadily  to  the  end  of  the  fifth  grade,  and  among  the 
girls  only  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  grade.  In  other  words,  the  per- 
ceptible elimination  among  the  girls  begins  in  grade  iive  and 
among  the  boys  in  grade  six.  Furthermore,  since  more  of  the 
retarded  girls  fourteen  years  of  age  and  over  continue  to  the 
eighth  grade  than  of  the  boys,  the  cur^^es  in  the  eighth  grade  almost 
coincide. 

Diagram  6  shows  the  relative  number  of  boys  and  girls  of 
normal  age  in  each  grade.  The  curves  with  but  one  exception 
are  just  the  reverse  of  the  curves  in  the  previous  diagram,  being 
but  slightly  influenced  by  the  comparatively  few  below  normal 
age  represented  in  diagram  1.  The  most  perceptible  influence 
is  in  the  eighth  grade,  where  the  number  below  normal  age,  com- 
pared with  the  total  enrolment  in  this  grade,  reaches  its  maximum. 


100 


Diagram 


2  3  4  5  6  7 

Per    cent   of    pupils    of   normal  age  (white),    above   normal 
(black),  and  below  normal  (dotted)  in  each  grade. 


Disregarding  sex  differences,  and  representing  the  total  enrol- 
ment in  the  elementary  grades  by  means  of  a  square  as  sho^vn 


RETARDATION, 


31 


in  diagram  8,  the  relative  numbers  of  the  three  groups  of  pupils 
are  shown  for  each  grade.  Finally  disregarding  also  the  grades 
the  relative  number  in  each  group  is  shov^^n  in  diagram  9. 


Group 


Normal 
Age 


Per  cent 
63.5 


Above 
Normal 


30.4 


Below- 
Normal 


6.2 


Diagram  9.     Relative  number  of  pupils  of  normal  age,  above  normal  and 
below  normal. 

Reconstructing  tables  VIII,  IX  and  X  on  the  basis  of  age 
instead  of  grade,  we  obtain  the  three  following  tables  (XI,  XII 
and  XIII).  As  stated  above,  the  five  year  olds  are  all  classed  as 
below  normal  age.  From  the  ages  six  to  ten,  the  per  cent  of  those 
below  normal  rises  and  falls  in  alternate  years,  ranging  from  4.8 
per  cent  for  the  seven  year  olds  to  7.2  per  cent  for  the  ten  year 
olds,  the  maximum  number  of  those  below  normal.  For  the  ages 
eleven  and  twelve  there  is  again  a  gradual  decrease.  The  totals 
show  2  per  cent  more  girls  than  boys  below  normal. 

Table  XL — Pupils  Below  ^N'ormal  Age  (on  Basis  of  Age). 


Age 

Numbe/ 

Per  cent 

M. 

F. 

Total 

M. 

F. 

Average 

6 

58 

60 

118 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

6 

25 

35 

60 

5.1 

6.9 

6.0 

7 

19 

38 

57 

3.9 

5.8 

4.8 

8 

33 

44 

77 

5.3 

6.7 

6.0 

9 

30 

39 

69 

4.8 

6.9 

5.8 

10 

39 

55 

94 

6.1 

8.4 

7.2 

11 

34 

48 

82 

5.1 

7.6 

6.3 

12 

27 

44 

71 

3.9 

6.8 

5.3 

:otals 

265 

363 

628 

5.2 

7.2 

6.2 

As  shown  in  table  XII  there  is  a  slight  increase  in  the  per  cent 
of  normal  age  pupils  from  the  six  year  olds  to  the  seven  year  olds 
for  both  male  and  female,  but  from  then  on  the  numbers  decrease 
rather  decidedly  and  uninterruptedly  to  the  fourteen  years  olds, 
of  whom  only  34.1  per  cent  are  of  normal  age.     The  average 


32       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 


decrease  for  the  nine  years  is  Y.5  per  cent, 
is  crossed  at  the  age  of  eleven. 


The  60  per  cent  mark 


Table  XII. — Pupils  of  IsTokmal  Age  (on  Basis  of  Age). 


Age 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 


M. 

465 
461 
501 
418 
376 
329 
287 
183 
63 


Number 
F. 

472 
600 
521 
415 
428 
320 
303 
222 
80 


Total 

937 
1061 
1022 
833 
804 
649 
590 
405 
143 


M. 

94.9 
96.1 

80.4 
67.2 
59.2 
48.9 
41.8 
34.5 
28.8 


,  Per  cent 
F. 

93.1 

94.2 

80.1 
74.1 
65.4 
51.0 

47.2 
50.2 
39.4 


Average 

94.0 
95.2 
80.3 
70.7 
62.3 
50.0 
44.5 
42.3 
34.1 


totals 

;         3083 

3361 

6444 

60.4 
Average 

66.5 
decrease 

63.5 

7.5 

?ABL] 

5  XIII. — Pupils  Above  ^^Tormal  Age 

(on  Basis 

OF  Ag] 

Age 

Number 

^ 

Per  cent 

M. 

F. 

Total 

M. 

F. 

Average 

8 

89 

86 

175 

14.3 

13.2 

13.7 

9 

174 

107 

281 

28.0 

19.0 

23.5 

10 

221 

171 

392 

34.7 

26.2 

30.5 

11 

309 

260 

569 

46.0 

41.4 

43.7 

12 

373 

296 

669 

54.3 

46.0 

50.2 

13 

347 

220 

567. 

65.5 

49.8 

57.7 

14 

156 

123 

279 

71.2 

60.6 

65.9 

15 

73 

49 

122 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

16 

11 

18 

29 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

17 

1 

0 

1 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

18 

1 

0 

1 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

Totals        1755       1330       3085 


34.4         26.3         30.4 
Average  decrease  8.7 


As  might  be  expected,  the  number  and  per  cent  of  the  pupils 
above  normal  age  form  an  increasing  series.  Beginning  with 
13.7  per  cent  for  the  eight  year  olds,  they  increase  to  65.9  per 
cent  for  the  fourteen  year  olds,  an  approximate  increase  of  five 
times  the  number  in  six  years.  All  children  fifteen  years  of  age 
and  over  are  classed  as  over  age.  The  average  per  cent  of  increase 
from  eight  to  fourteen  years  is  8.7  per  cent. 


RETARDATION, 


33 


Average  Time  Spent  in  Grade. 

Probably  the  most  significant  and  helpful  of  the  tables  is 
table  XIV  showing  the  average  time  spent  in  the  elementary  grades 
one  to  eight.  In  the  computation  of  this  table  only  the  complete 
records  of  those  bom  in  this  country  were  taken.  The  results 
obtained  are  those  of  native  bom  children,  placed  under  four 
headings, — first  those  who  completed  the  grade  in  a  half  year; 
secondly  those  who  completed  the  grade  in  one  year ;  thirdly  those 
who  completed  the  grade  in  a  year  and  a  half ;  and  fourthly  those 
who  spent  two  years  and  over  in  the  grade. 


Table  XIV. — Average  Time  Spent  in  Each  of  the  Eight 
Elementary  Grades. 


Per  cent  of  pupils  enrolled  who  completed  the  grade  in 


2  years  and  over 
M.         F.         A. 


A  mere  glance  at  the  table  shows  that  the  once  current  belief  1 
that  the  number  who  gain  time  is  approximately  equal  to  the  1 
number  who  lose  time,  or  the  average  time  gained  is  approxi-  I 
mately  equal  to  the  average  time  lost,  is  not  based  on  fact.  / 

In  grade  one  only  2  per  cent  completed  the  grade  in  a  half 
year,  as  over  against  31  per  cent  who  spent  two  years  and  over 
in  this  grade.  Adding  to  this  number  the  19.4  per  cent  who  lost 
a  half  year,  we  have  50.5  per  cent  who  lost  time  and  only  2  per 
cent  who  gained  time,  leaving  47.8  per  cent  who  completed  the 
grade  in  the  allotted  time  of  one  year.  In  the  second  grade  there 
is  a  decided  improvement,  but  even  here  30.9  per  cent  lost  time 
as  compared  with  1.6  per  cent  who  gained  a  half  year. 

In  grade  three  the  number  losing  again  increases,  12  per 
cent  having  lost  a  half  year  and  26.5  per  cent  one  year  and  over. 
Only  59.5  per  cent  completed  the  grade  in  one  year,  8.3  per  cent 
less  than  in  the  second  grade.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades  the 
number  gaining  a  half  year  increased  respectively  to  4.3  per  cent  . 


i^ 


34       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

and  3.1  per  cent.  The  total  number  losing  diminislied  to  34.9 
per  cent  and  29.3  per  cent,  leaving  60.8  per  cent  who  completed 
the  fourth  grade  in  one  year,  and  67.4  per  cent,  the  fifth  grade. 

Since  midyear  promotions  extend  only  to  the  fifth  grade,  a 
gain  in  time  in  grades  six,  seven,  and  eight  is  exceptional.  In 
these  three  grades  the  numbers  losing  one  year  and  more  are 
respectively  12.9  per  cent,  6.3  per  cent,  and  5  per  cent,  leaving 
86.4  per  cent  who  completed  the  sixth  grade  in  one  year,  93.3 
per  cent  the  seventh,  and  95  per  cent  the  eighth. 

On  the  average  only  l.Y  per  cent  in  the  elementary  grades 
gain  a  half  year,  and  this  gain  is  confined  almost  exclusively 
to  the  first  'G.Ye  grades;  72.3  per  cent  complete  the  grade  in  one 
year;  7.4  per  cent  lose  one-half  year  and  18.6  per  cent  lose  one 
year  or  over.  This  means  that  on  the  average  at  least  26  per 
cent  of  those  enrolled  in  the  elementary  grades  are  repeaters,  of 
whom  approximately  7  per  cent  lose  a  half  year. 

The  table  also  shows  decided  variations  between  boys  and 
girls.  In  grade  one  only  45  per  cent  of  the  boys  completed  the 
grade  in  one  year,  and  50  per  cent  of  the  girls;  34  per  cent  of 
the  boys  and  only  28  per  cent  of  the  girls  spent  two  years  or 
more  in  grade  one.  In  the  second  and  third  grades  the  progress 
was  approximately  equal,  but  in  grades  four  and  five  about  2 
per  cent  more  of  the  girls  completed  the  grade  in  one  year.  In 
grade  four  2  per  cent,  and  in  grade  ^yo  nearly  4  per  cent 
more  of  the  boys  lost  one  year  or  more.  Again  in  grade  six 
nearly  6  per  cent  more  of  the  girls  completed  the  grade  in  one 
year.  The  seventh  grade  is  the  only  one  in  which  more  boys  than 
girls  progressed  normally.  E^inety-five  per  cent  of  the  boys  and 
only  91  per  cent  of  the  girls  completed  the  grade  in  one  year, 
and  in  the  eighth  grade  the  progress  was  again  approximately 
equal. 

On  the  average  in  the  elementary  grades  nearly  2  per  cent 
more  of  the  girls  completed  the  grade  in  one  year,  and  2  per 
cent  more  of  the  boys  spent  two  years  or  more  in  the  same  grade. 
Grades  one,  four,  five,  and  six  seem  to  be  better  adapted  for  the 
progress  of  the  girl  than  the  boy. 

Closely  allied  to  the  table  discussed  is  table  XV,  showing 
the  per  cent  of  actual  gain  and  loss  in  each  grade.  As  noted 
above  only  2  per  cent  in  the  first  grade  gained  time  by  com- 


RETARDATION. 


35 


> 

OJ     00    Tj<     Tf 

o> 

MC<eoioco»ocot*       CO 

<J 

<N    CO 

?§ 

^  o  lo  00       cm'     ■ 

j3 

fi; 

q  lo  w  >o 

''J" 

q  iH  t>  (N  >o  »o 

X 

1-1  1-1  ei  M 

fe 

Ci    ^    t^   OS       *   rH 

s 

t^       1-;  CO 

lO 

Tjj-^oqwt^iot-Ttt       t^ 

e4  -^ 

^ 

CO    00    (N    t>;       ■    CO       '    r^ 

> 

0>  "3  OS  t* 

M 

X)cocco<z>a>^-^ 

< 

'  ^'  O   N 

g 

.CgcOCO^(N 

[xi 

•^  N.  eo  t^ 

CO 

OOlOrHrHOOeOCO 

^   -4   00   N 

?§■ 

^-    r^    ^-    CO    rH-    rH- 

s 

T}*  ec  «o  t^ 

t>: 

00<NTj4OSOSt^'*'^ 

'    rH    lO    (N 

§ 

CO"   CO   CO    <N       *   Tt! 

> 

^  O   CO   <N 

«^ 

lOrHiot^eot^co-^ 

•< 

•    rH-    d    «3 

w5 

U)  ^  ^*  ^"  ^  ^*      •  ^ 

CO           ^-< 

1 

fH 

o  ec  o 

1-* 

OSTf<0>(NOCOCOt^ 

^'  iO  o 

^ 

■«<<-    OS    TfJ    CO     rH*    CO         ■    rn' 

s 

(N  ^  eo  00 

lO 

O    00    rH    CO    CO    t~    CO    rH 

•  ,-;  «5  CO 

CO    (N    Tf    CO    rH*    lO        -    rH 

> 

Tj<     00    ■* 

CO 

«             rH 

oocor^osi^ososrH        ^ 

<5 

■  N  lO 

s 

«C5    ■«J<-    ■*■     rH*     ^     00         -    rH 

•S 

Pm 

»0   (N   00 

^ 

rHWirHt^lCINlOCO                      N 

tei 

'  CO  (6 

CO  CO  «o  »■  ^-  t>^     -     ■ 

S' 

Tt<    CO   OS 

■<J« 

qcOrHQ0eOINTl<(NC0 

■  ci  CO 

t> 

irf    TH    TjJ    CO    <N    O     r-!    CO 

> 

'1  « 

»o 

N0SO00-*r^05O^(No 

-< 

1-1  <* 

2 

00  T*;  !>:  t>:  TtJ  00    '  d    '    '    ' 

■B 

psi 

CO  o 

t^ 

r>.«oco-«i<eoot^oo       -^IS 

Tf 

rH    TjJ 

OS 

OS  (o  CO  "5  Tt<-  OS     ■  rH-          '     * 

l^' 

lO  «o 

(N 

q^'*(N»0-^0<NCO 

'  »o 

OS 

CO    CO    t^*    O'    Tji    00    rH    (N 

> 

«    lO 

M 

Tt|  (N  t-.  q  CO  CO  t^  o  CO  «s 

< 

*  ■*' 

^ 

OS   "3   t>;   ^    N   TjJ       -   CO 

^ 

fe* 

t>  o 

<^. 

»oqrHqqocooco>o 

CO 

S 

OS   b--  CO   CO    (N   T»i       -   CO 

s 

iO    rH 

^ 

COCONrHOCOrHOSCOlO 

'  CO 

S 

OS  CO   «■  CO   (N   •*■   r^   (N 

> 

r^ 

OS 

qrHOCOOSlOt^CO<NrHrH 

^ 

< 

M* 

i 

rH    O    U3    00    rH-    (N 

T3 

f^ 

OS 

CO 

oqt^iocoowcOTji       (N 

N 

m' 

?§ 

(N    d    Tf-    CO    rn'    rH-        ■        ' 

S 

»o 

rH 

o  •*  t>  q  r^  rH  00  00  CO       m 

(N 

?« 

CO 

rH*  cj  d  d  (N  ■^-     *     *     ' 

>.' 

(N 

OS 

>O»OOC<l»O00NNC^ 

<tj 

(M' 

OS  rH*  •*-  co- 
rn  (N  ' 

2 

f^ 

CO 

to 

00    (N   •*•*■*    CO   CO 

N 

s 

drncioi 

s 

t^ 

(N 

(NI^COOCOCOrHTjlCO 

rH 

djH-^^-        -rH-        •        -        • 

(N    T-<    rH 

o 

Hn          Hn          Hn          Hn          Hn          r^N 
rHrH(N(MC0C0Tt<Tl<>O>O 

CO 

UIBO 

IBUIJO^ 

gsoq; 

36       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

pleting  the  grade  in  a  half  year,  48  per  cent  completed  the  grade 
in  the  normal  time  of  one  year,  leaving  just  about  half  the  class 
who  lost  from  one-half  to  four  and  a  half  years.  N^ineteen  per 
cent  lost  a  half  year,  21  per  cent  lost  one  year,  and  4  per  cent 
one  and  a  half  years,  leaving  5  per  cent  who  lost  two  years  and 
over  in  this  grade.  In  actual  numbers,  we  find  28  boys  and  16 
girls,  who  were  in  grade  one  three  years ;  4  boys  and  3  girls  three 
years  and  a  half,  12  boys  and  4  girls  four  years,  one  boy  five 
years,  and  two  boys  five  and  a  half  years, — enough  pupils  for  four 
special  classes. 

Of  the  second  grade  pupils  2.7  per  cent  had  gained  a  half 
year,  and  35  per  cent  made  normal  progress.  This  added  to  the 
number  who  gained,  leaves  62  per  cent  who  lost  from  one-half 
to  six  years  in  the  first  two  grades.  Of  these  12  per  cent  had 
lost  a  half  year,  30  per  cent  one  year,  and  6  per  cent  one  and 
a  half  years.  The  balance  15  per  cent  had  lost  from  two  to  six 
years,  and  5  per  cent  from  three  to  six  years,  i.e.  46  boys  had 
lost  from  three  to  six  years,  and  22  girls  from  three  to  five  years. 
Six  boys  and  three  girls  had  lost  four  years,  two  boys  four  and 
a  half  years,  one  girl  five  years,  one  boy  five  and  a  half  years, 
and  one  boy  six  years,  a  total  of  68  pupils  in  the  second  grade 
who  needed  special  attention. 

In  the  third  grade  5  per  cent  had  gained  time,  .6  per  cent 
gaining  a  whole  year.  Only  27  per  cent  had  made  normal  prog- 
ress and  68  per  cent  had  lost  from  one-half  to  five  years.  Fifty- 
seven  per  cent  had  lost  one  year  and  over,  26  per  cent  two  years 
and  over,  9  per  cent  three  years  and  over,  and  4  per  cent  four 
years  and  over.  Thirty-seven  boys  and  26  girls  had  lost  from 
three  to  three  and  a  half  years,  and  24  boys  and  23  girls  from 
four  to  five  years,  a  total  of  61  boys  and  49  girls  who  had  lost 
three  years  and  over. 

The  number  retarded  reaches  its  maximum  in  the  fourth 
grade.  Of  the  pupils  enrolled  in  this  grade  5  per  cent  had 
gained  a  half  year  in  the  first  three  grades  and  one  per  cent  one 
year.  Only  19  per  cent  had  gone  normally  through  the  grades, 
leaving  75  per  cent  who  lost  from  one-half  to  five  and  a  half 
years.  Sixty-seven  per  cent  had  lost  one  year  and  over,  35  per 
cent  two  years  and  over,  and  12  per  cent  three  years  and  over. 
In  actual  numbers,  we  find  57  boys  and  66  girls  who  lost  from 
three  to  three  and  a  half  years,  15  boys  and  12  girls  from  four 
to  four  and  a  half,  and  4  girls  five  to  five  and  a  half  years,  a 
total  of  72  boys  and  82  girls,  who  spent  on  the  average  two  years 
or  more  in  their  respective  grades. 


RETARDATION.  37 

Since  most  of  the  greatly  retarded  do  not  get  beyond  the 
fourth  grade,  the  fifth  grade  shows  the  beginning  of  improved 
conditions.  By  the  time  this  grade  is  reached  approximately  23 
per  cent  have  been  eliminated,  obviously  representing  the  greatly 
retarded,  very  few  of  whom  will  receive  further  training  other 
than  in  the  school  of  experience.  This  does  not  mean  that  retarda- 
tion stops  here.  There  are  some  fond  parents  who  in  spite  of 
the  slow  progress  of  their  children  keep  on  sending  them  even 
after  the  age  limit  of  legally  permissible  withdrawal  has  been 
passed.  One  girl  in  the  fifth  grade  had  lost  ^lyq  and  a  half  years, 
having  attended  school  for  ten  and  a  half  years,  and  still  kept 
on  coming  although  five  years  above  the  average  age  of  the  grade. 
The  same  is  true  of  two  boys  in  this  grade,  who  had  lost  four 
and  a  half  years ;  18  boys  and  3  girls  had  lost  four  years,  8  boys 
and  2  girls  three  and  a  half  years,  and  57  boys  and  23  girls  three 
years,  a  total  of  83  boys  and  28  girls  who  had  lost  three  years 
and  over,  most  of  whom  are  above  fourteen  years  of  age.  Twenty- 
one  per  cent  had  progressed  normally  and  8.4  per  cent  had 
gained  time. 

In  grade  six  the  improved  conditions  continue.  Thirteen  per 
cent  had  gained  from  one-half  to  two  years  and  25  per  cent  had 
made  normal  progress.  Retardation,  however,  still  makes  its 
claim,  although  to  a  much  less  degree.  Thirty-one  per  cent  had 
lost  one  year,  15  per  cent  two  years,  and  only  6  per  cent  three 
years  and  over, — a  little  more  than  half  as  many  as  in  the  fifth 
grade.  Twenty-one  boys  and  11  girls  had  lost  three  years,  one 
boy  and  one  girl  three  and  a  half  years,  and  4  boys  and  5  girls 
four  years. 

Of  the  seventh  grade  12  per  cent  had  gained  from  one-half 
to  two  years,  and  30  per  cent  had  progressed  normally.  Approxi- 
mately the  same  number  as  in  the  preceding  grade,  30  per  cent, 
had  lost  one  year,  but  only  13  per  cent  had  lost  two  years,  and 
3.7  per  cent  from  three  to  four  years.  About  13  per  cent  of  those 
retarded  two  years  and  over,  and  6  per  cent  of  those  retarded 
three  years  and  over,  will  therefore  be  eliminated  in  the  sixth  grade. 
Eleven  boys  and  three  girls  had  lost  three  years,  one  boy  and  one 
girl  three  and  a  half  years,  and  one  boy  and  one  girl  four  years, 
a  total  of  13  boys  and  5  girls  who  had  lost  from  three  to  four 
years. 

In  the  eighth  grade  the  number  who  gained  time  increases  to 
17  per  cent  and  those  who  progressed  normally  to  34  per  cent. 
The  number  who  had  lost  only  one  year  decreases  to  26  per  cent. 


38       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

and  those  who  had  lost  two  years  to  8  per  cent.  Two  boys  had  lost 
four  years,  one  boy  three  and  a  half  years,  and  five  boys  and  three 
girls  three  years,  a  total  of  eight  boys  and  three  girls  who  had 
lost  three  years  and  over. 

Summing  up  the  losses  and  gains  of  the  4273  boys  and  4195 
girls  included  in  this  discussion,  'we  have  229  boys  and  262  girls 
who  gained  from  one-half  to  two  years,  1380  boys  and  1555  girls 
made  normal  progress,  and  2664  boys  and  2378  girls  lost  from 
one-half  to  six  years.  Of  the  latter  78  boys  and  53  girls  lost 
four  years  and  over,  and  331  boys  and  224  girls  lost  three  years 
and  over.  In  other  words,  5.8  per  cent  of  those  enrolled  in  the 
elementary  grades  gained  time,  34.7  per  cent  made  normal  prog- 
ress, and  59.5  per  cent  lost  time,  of  whom  1.8  per  cent  lost  four 
years  and  over,  and  6.8  per  cent  three  years  and  over.  One  per 
cent  more  of  the  number  of  girls  gained  time  and  5  per  cent 
more  made  normal  progress,  an  excess  in  loss  of  6  per  cent  for 
the   boys. 

The  actual  periods  gained  and  lost  are  show^n  in  terms  in 
tables  XVI,  XVII,  and  XVIII.  Of  the  4262  boys  included  in  the 
table,  228  gained  from  one  to  four  terms,  1380  made  normal  prog- 
ress, and  2654  lost  from  one  to  twelve  terms.  In  other  words,  out 
of  every  one  hundred  boys  enrolled  in  the  elementary  grades  5 
gained  time,  33  made  normal  progress,  and  62  lost  time.  Of 
the  4195  girls,  262  gained  from  one  to  four  terms,  1555  made 
normal  progress,  and  2378  lost  from  one  to  eleven  terms,  i.e.,  6 
in  every  one  hundred  gained  time,  37  made  normal  progress,  and 
57  lost  time.  Thus  for  every  one  hundred  boys  and  girls  enrolled 
in  the  elementary  grades,  one  more  of  the  girls  gained  time,  four 
more  made  normal  progress,  and  five  less  lost  time. 

As  shown  in  table  XIX,  of  the  8457  boys  and  girls,  490  or 
5.8  per  cent  gained  time,  2935  or  34.3  per  cent  made  normal 
progress,  and  6032  or  59.5  per  cent  lost  time.  Out  of  every  one 
hundred  pupils  enrolled  approximately  6  gained  time,  35  made 
normal  progress,  and  59  lost  time,  the  amount  varying  from  one 
to  twelve  terms.  The  loss  sustained  in  any  one  year  is  less  than 
half  the  number  of  pupils  who  have  lost  a  term  or  more  at  some 
time  during  their  school  life.  As  previously  stated,  only  about 
26  per  cent  fail  of  promotion  in  any  one  year,  i.e.  lose  time,  as 
over  against  59  per  cent  based  upon  the  school  history. 

Thus  far  we  have  dealt  only  with  the  numher  of  pupils  who 
gained  time,  made  normal  progress,  and  lost  time.  Finding  now 
the  number  of  terms  attended  or  at  least  belonged  by  these  pupils, 
we  obtain  the  following  table: 


RETARDATION, 


39 


CO  Tl« -^ -^  .^  (N -M 

(N 

c^ 

^ 

^ 

"^ 

1-t 

^ 

o 

CO                       rt 

■^ 

o> 

i-iC^(N(M(N 

OS 

00 

'©WMOOtH-hM 

3 

t>. 

O  l>0  00 -HrHPH 

^ 

1 

(O 

"^ggSJoS:^;^"' 

00 

lO 

t^oeot^co<0(N^ 

§§ 

■^ 

COt^OWCOCOCO^ 

s 

eo 

;:^^S5^?52°°^ 

i 

M 

«0(NeOt^t^^t^O 

CO  ^  "5  CO  CO  cs  t>.  •* 

CS|(N 'H  ^ -1  .-H 

(N 

^ 

§gS?§?§^2« 

s 

-a 

o   IgS^SjSS^ 

i 

^ 

(NOOOeON-^O© 
.-1  rt  •<«<  CO  (N  ^H 

lO 

•a 

o 

(N 

CO  CO  CO  coco  ^- 

CO 

CO 

(N-<*<CO 

OS 

■* 

— 

CO 

|3 

(NQ0COCOh->OCO-<*< 
i-H  rt -^  CO  CO  CO  w  w 

00 

g  © 

^■1 

%mm^ 

■* 

to 

■t 

i-KNCO-'l^'OCOt^OO 

03 

1 

III 

"fl*  03 --t  00  Tt<  OJ  (N  00 

'    rr 

^ 

"* 

(N 

•^ 

^^ 

(N 

o 

rHCOCO 

t^ 

05 

(N 

N 

00 

eooo(Neow5^ 

^ 

t^ 

-^^(N»0(N.HrH 

CO 

CO 

'^S^S^^^'^ 

s 

1 

«o 

iHt^tfJOJt^COCO^ 

r>. 

.-HN 

CO 

Tjt 

Ot^iN'OOOOXOO 

CO 

»o 

^ 

•>* 

CO 

O  (N  t^  »0  ■*  »0  (N  »0 

o 

^COCOrf<<N^^rH 

03 

(N 

sIsSS*^^ 

1 

^ 

ssjosss^;'^ 

s 

CO 

-a 

cot-t^coos>«ooco 

u. 

o 

O»l>l>C0.-HMO3t^ 

o 

»0(N^r-lrH 

U5 

2; 

'-' 

00 -H  00  k  CO  O  X  •* 

00 

t 

c^ 

1^  rH  IC  CO  ■<*<  «? 

iC 

a 

.-^-H^(N(N 

OS 

•a 

o 

<Nco»oeo 

CO 

""l* 

•^w 

CO 

1^ 

00  ^  (N  00  Oi  03  ^  •* 

(N 

rH  <N  (N  CO  ■<*<  CO -"f  CO 

CO 

la 

c  01 

lOr^cooxNco^io 

IC 

§i:s^^^S2 

© 

» 

"^ 

^(NC0-*»OcOt-00 

'oi 

^ 

o 

o 

H 

CO 

Q 

o 

o 


IN  CO  (N  00  00  OS  00  (N 
^  O  »0  ■*  cvi  CO  05  CO  ■ 
t^  OS  00  OS  l>  Tjt  (M -I 


o 

a 

o'-a 


•:•'§ 


.-I  CO  CO 
'-i(N'*(N(N 


I  O  OS  rH  o  (N  CO -H 


COTfoOCOCOOOOOS 
CO  CO  M  CO  CO  O  CO  CO 
.-HT^  CO  corn 


CO  cq  CO  X  00  o  r^  t^ 

CO  CO  ^ -H  ■* -H  lO  « 
^  Tl<  CO  CO  CO  CO  ^ 


CO  ■*  CO  t^  CO  «  O  CO 
00  O  Tf  ■*  ^  CO  CO  .-H 

^lOCOCOCOi-H— IrH 


O  OS  X  O  ■* -"^  Tj<  c 
eo  CO  "5  CO  "3  CO --H  . 


Tjfoc:soso»-icoco 

CO  ^  "5  CO  CO  1^  CO  CO 
OJ  ■*  CO  CO  O  CO  ^  CO 


i-iC^C0-*iOCOt*X 


40       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 


Table  XIX. — Summary  of  School  Progress  of  8457  Pupils. 

No.  of  terms         No.  of  terms  No.  of  terms  No.  of  terms 

gained  lost  required  for  actually 

normal  prog.  required 

Male    320  8,042  24,774  32,496 

Female 401  6,737  25,141  31,477 


Total   721  14,779  49,915  63,973 

The  number  of  terms  required  by  the  girls  for  normal  prog- 
ress exceeds  the  number  required  by  the  male  by  367,  although 
67  less  in  number.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  number  of 
girls  in  grades  seven  and  eight  included  in  this  discussion  is 
considerably  larger  than  the  number  of  boys,  and  since  these 
belonged  normally  thirteen  and  fifteen  terms,  they  accelerate 
the  number  of  months  required.  The  computations  were  made 
upon  the  basis  of  the  grade  in  which  the  child  was  registered  in 
February,    1909. 

Taking  table  XIX  as  it  stands,  the  assumption  would  neces- 
sarily have  to  be  that  during  the  entire  school  history  of  each 
child,  it  belonged  to  school  every  month  and  term.  This  of 
course  is  not  the  case.  Undoubtedly  a  number  of  those  who  lost 
two,  three,  or  more  years  have  missed  many  months,  some  an  entire 
term,  and  some  even  an  entire  year.  Considered  from  an  educa- 
tional standpoint  they  are  losses  nevertheless.  From  a  financial 
standpoint  the  problem  may  be  somewhat  different.  But  since 
the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher  is  not  determined  by  the  average 
attendance  but  by  the  actual  number  enrolled,  the  loss  of  an 
entire  month  or  two,  or  even  a  term,  does  not  affect  the  schools 
economically.  Irregular  attendance  does  not  mean  a  proportionate 
decrease  in  the  school  expenditure.  The  schools  are  affected  from 
an  economical  standpoint  by  only  the  comparative  few  who  missed 
an  entire  year,  or  at  least  a  term. 

In  the  superintendent's  report  for  1906  and  1907  the  monthly 
expenditures  per  pupil  for  the  years  ending  February  24,  1905, 
and  February  23,  1906,  are  given  as  $1.48  and  $1.54  respectively. 
Since  the  loss  and  gain  in  the  above  table  cover  in  part  the  his- 
tory of  school  progress  extending  over  at  least  eleven  years,  end- 
ing February,  1909,  let  us  assume  that  the  average  monthly 
expenditure  per  child  was  $1.40,  or  $6.00  per  term. 

Converting  table  XIX  into  economic  or  financial  equivalents 
according  to  this  assumption,  we  obtain  the  following  table: 


RETARDATION. 


41 


Table  XX. — The  School  Progress  of  8457  Pupils 
Expressed  Financially. 


Male    . 
Female 

Total   . 


Amt.  saved 
through  gain 
in  progress 

$1,920 
2,406 


$4,326 


Amt.  spent 

on 
repetition 

$48,252 
40,422 

$88,674 


Amt.  required 

for 
ncrmal  prog. 

$148,644 
150,846 

$299,490 


Amt. 

actually 

spent 

$194,976 

188,862 

$383,838 


The  table  shows  that  approximately  25  per  cent  of  the  money 
spent  in  the  education  of  the  boys  was  spent  in  repetition,  and 
in  the  education  of  the  girls  21  per  cent,  a  total  average  of  23 
per  cent.  Although  67  less  in  number  the  girls  made  56  per  cent 
of  the  total  gain  and  the  boys  only  44  per  cent.  Of  the  money 
spent  for  repetition  the  boys  claim  54  per  cent  and  the  girls  46 
per  cent.  The  average  expenditure  per  boy  for  the  4262  included 
in  this  discussion  and  on  the  above  basis  was  $45.74  and  for 
the  4195  girls  $45.02.  This  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
on  the  average  the  elementary  education  of  the  boy  costs  72  cents 
more  than  the  education  of  the  girl. 

In  diagram  10  the  relation  of  the  number  of  terms  gained 
and  lost  by  these  8457  boys  and  girls  is  shown  graphically.     As 

2200 
2000 
1800 
1600 
1400 
1200 
1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

4        3        21       123456789       10     11     12 
Diagram  10.    Number  of  terms  gained  and  lost  by  8457  boys  and  girls  in  the  elementary 
grades.     (White,  gain;  black,  loss.) 

previously   stated  there   are   comparatively  few  promotions   and 
entrances  in  February,  so  that  the  losses  of  one,  three,  and  five 


42       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

terms  are  approximately  only  one- 
third  -as  numerous  as  those  of  two, 
four,  and  six  terms.  The  relative 
amounts  of  gain  and  loss  are 
shown  in  diagram  11,  the  latter  be- 
ing approximately  twenty  times  as 
large  as  the  former. 

Promotions. 

According  to   the   system   in 
vogue  two  promotions  are  made  an- 
nually, one  in  January,  extending 
Gain  Loss  ^^^  through  the  first  five  grades. 

Diagram    11.      Relative   gain   and  and  the  Othcr  in  JunO,   the  promo- 

loss  of  8457  pupils  in  the  elemen-  .•  i-  /•,  i-i  •-!  i 

tary  grades.  "^^^^s  Demg  ol  two  kiuds,  either  to 

a  higher  class  or  a  higher  grade. 
Furthermore,  during  the  two  terms  of  1907-1908,  113  were  pro- 
moted to  a  higher  class  and  26  to  a  higher  grade.  Adding  these 
to  the  promotions  in  January  and  June  gives  1Y91  promotions  to 
a  higher  class  and  832  promotions  to  a  higher  grade  for  the  former, 
and  844  promotions  to  a  higher  class  and  6642  promotions  to  a 
higher  grade  for  the  latter. 

As  yet  there  is  no  uniformity  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
method  of  obtaining  the  percentage  of  promotions.  The  question 
is,  shall  we  use  the  total  enrolment,  the  average  enrolment,  or  the 
enrolment  for  the  last  month  of  each  term,  as  the  basis  ?  On 
account  of  the  great  exodus  in  the  fall  and  spring  of  the  year  it 
is,  no  doubt,  an  injustice  to  the  system  as  well  as  to  teachers 
and  school  authorities  to  use  the  total  enrolment  as  the  basis.  It 
means  basing  the  rate  of  promotion  not  only  on  the  actual  enrol- 
ment, but  on  a  large  additional  number  who  have  left  school 
before  they  could  be  promoted.  In  this  particular  instance  it 
would  include  632,  or  6.5  per  cent  of  the  total  enrolment,  who  left 
school  during  the  first  term,  and  977,  or  8.5  per  cent,  w^ho  left 
school  during  the  second  term. 

The  average  enrolment  forms  a  more  correct  basis,  especially 
for  the  first  term,  which  was  only  six  less  than  the  January  enrol- 
ment. Since  the  total  enrolment  naturally  keeps  on  increasing 
and  the  average  enrolment  decreasing  during  the  second  term, 
the  latter  also  forms  the  more  correct  basis.  It  is  not,  however, 
as  accurate  as  the  June  enrolment,  which  in  this  case  was  2.7  per 
cent  less  than  the  average  enrolment. 


RETARDATION,  43 

For  all  school  systems  in  which  the  name  of  the  child  is  kept 
on  the  roll  until  such  child  has  actually  left  school  and  is  not 
simply  a  case  of  irregular  attendance,  the  enrolment  in  January 
for  the  first  term  and  the  June  enrolment  for  the  second  term 
undoubtedly  form  the  fairest  bases,  since  they  represent  the  actual 
enrolment  at  the  time  of  promotion,  disregarding  the  comparatively 
few  who  leave  during  these  months. 

The  following  table  shows  the  varied  results  obtained  by 
these  methods: 

Table     XXI. — Eesults     Obtained     by     Three     Different 
Methods  for  Computing  Percentages  of  Promotion. 


Per  cent 

Per  cent 

Per  cent 

of  total 

of  av. 

of  month's 

Number 

enrolment 

enrolment 

enrolment 

Jan.  pro.  to  higher  grade 

832 

7.2 

7.6 

7.6 

"       class 

1791 

15.5 

16.5 

16.4 

June        "         ^^       grade 

6642 

56.2 

63.1 

65.1 

"       class 

844 

7.1 

8.0 

8.3 

On  account  of  the  comparatively  few  promotions  to  a  higher 
grade  in  January,  the  difference  between  total  enrolment  and 
the  average  and  January  enrolment  is  only  .4  per  cent,  and 
even  for  the  promotions  to  a  higher  class  the  difference  is  only 

1  per  cent.  The  disparity  is  more  forcibly  shown  in  the 
results  obtained  for  the  second  term.  Here  the  difference  between 
the  first  and  the  second  methods  for  the  promotions  to  a  higher 
grade  is  6.9  per  cent,  and  between  the  second  and  third  methods 

2  per  cent.  Adding  the  per  cent  of  promotion  to  a  higher  grade 
and  a  higher  class  for  both  terais  we  obtain  22.7,  24.1,  and 
24.0  per  cent  respectively  for  the  three  methods  as  the  number 
promoted  the  first  term,  and  63.3,  71.1,  and  73.4  per  cent  as  the 
number  promoted  the  second  term,  a  total  difference  of  10  per  cent 
between  the  first  and  third  methods  for  the  second  term. 

With  a  difference  for  the  first  term  of  8.8  per  cent  between 
the  number  promoted  to  a  higher  gi'ade  and  the  number  pro- 
moted to  a  higher  class,  and  for  the  second  term  a  difference  of 
56.8  per  cent,  it  would  seem  that  the  system  of  midyear  promo- 
tions is  not  yet  fully  established.  It  means  more  or  less  annual 
congestion,  especially  in  grades  four  and  ^yq,  with  an  inevitable 
loss  of  a  half  year  to  a  large  number  of  those  who  enter  these 
grades  in  February.  Approximately  two-thirds  of  the  girls  and 
three-fourths  of  the  boys  who  entered  the  fifth  grade  in  February, 
1908,  lost  the  half  year. 


44       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

In  this  connection  it  is  essential  to  consider  also  the  admis- 
sions to  the  first  grade,  as  shown  in  the  following  table: 

Table  XXII. — Admission  to  the  First  Grade. 

Sept.  Oct.        Nov.     Dec.       Jan.  Feb.      March     April     May    June        Total 

1907-08— 

1085   129   15   2   131    97      14   11   3   36   1523 

1908-09— 

1246        21        7      1  2      334      44        6      2        0      1663 

It  is  evident  that  very  rarely  does  an  admission  in  Janu- 
ary or  June  result  in  gain  to  a  child,  in  a  system  having  midyear 
promotions.  The  same  is  true  for  the  months  of  December  and 
May.  For  the  months  of  November  and  April  the  chances  for 
a  gain  of  two  months  are  one  in  fifteen.  Of  those  who  entered 
in  March  about  one  in  ten  gained  the  one  month  by  completing 
the  half  year  in  four  months. 

The  midyear  system  not  having  been  fully  installed,  consid- 
erable loss  was  also  sustained  by  those  who  entered  the  first  grade 
in  February,  1907  and  1908.  Only  one  in  eight  completed  the 
first  grade  in  one  year,  thus  causing  a  considerable  loss  to  the 
292  who  entered  the  first  grade  from  January  to  June,  1908. 
At  this  rate  many  of  the  half  year  losses,  and  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  one  year  and  a  year  and  a  half,  can  be  accounted  for, 
as  we  go  up  the  grades.  A  failure  in  promotion  at  the  end  of 
the  year  meant  in  most  cases  another  whole  year  in  the  same 
grade. 

In  the  second  grade  only  164  pupils  were  promoted  to  the 
third  grade  in  February,  1909,  and  these  were  confined  to  20 
of  the  44  teachers  in  this  grade.  In  other  words  24  teachers  made 
no  promotions  at  this  time  and  yet  there  were  167  boys  and  girls 
who  had  been  in  the  grade  a  year  and  a  half,  and  259  two  years. 
About  the  same  thing  is  true  of  the  third  grade.  Out  of  41 
teachers  of  this  grade  only  19  promoted  from  the  second  to  the 
third  grade  in  February,  1909.  The  total  number  promoted  was 
128,  and  there  were  135  who  had  been  in  the  grade  a  year  and  a 
half  and  227  two  years. 

As  shown  in  the  above  table,  however,  great  ipiprovements 
have  been  made  during  the  last  year  by  confining  admissions  to 
the  first  grade  to  the  first  month  of  each  term.  For  the  last  three 
months  of  the  first  term  the  number  admitted  has  been  reduced 
from  148  to  10,  and  for  the  last  three  months  of  the  second  term 
from  50  to  8,  none  having  entered  in  June  as  compared  with  36 
the  preceding  year. 


IV. 

Age   of  Entrance. 

In  the  discussion  of  retardation  we  have  assumed  a  child 
five  years  of  age  or  less  to  be  below  normal  age  for  the  first 
grade,  from  six  to  seven  years  of  normal  age,  and  eight  years 
and  over  above  normal  age.  Computing  ages  of  entrance  to  the 
first  grade  for  the  eight  elementary  grades  shows  that  the  ages 
varied  from  three  and  a  half  to  twelve  and  a  half  years.  Three 
girls  entered  the  first  grade  at  three  and  a  half  years  of  age,  one 
boy  and  seven  girls  at  four  years  of  age,  and  twenty-one  boys  and 
twenty  girls  at  four  and  a  half  years.  Adding  these  to  the  five 
year  olds  we  have  a  total  of  23.5  per  cent  of  those  who  entered 
the  first  grade  and  are  now  in  the  eighth,  who  were  below  normal 
age  at  the  time  of  entrance.  Of  those  who  entered  the  first  grade 
and  are  now  in  the  seventh,  23.3  per  cent  were  below  normal  age, 
and  in  the  sixth  grade  21.4  per  cent.  Approximately  the  same 
number  of  those  who  entered  the  first  grade  and  are  now  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  grades,  were  below  normal  age,  20.5  per  cent  of 
the  former  and  22.3  per  cent  of  the  latter. 

During  the  last  three  years  decided  reductions  have  been 
made  in  the  group  below  normal  age.  Of  the  third  grade  only 
13.5  per  cent  entered  the  first  grade  below  normal,  of  the  second 
grade  12.3  per  cent,  and  of  the  first  only  10.7  per  cent,  a  total 
reduction  of  12.8  per  cent  in  approximately  eight  years  and  a  very 
marked  improvement. 

Of  the  normal  age  group  of  those  who  entered  at  the  age 
of  six,  the  number  increased  from  63.9  per  cent  for  the  eighth 
grade,  to  Yl.6  per  cent  for  the  third  grade,  and  to  69.0  per  cent 
for  the  first  grade.  Simultaneously  the  number  who  entered  the 
first  grade  at  the  age  of  seven  increased  from  10.0  per  cent  for 
the  eighth  grade  to  14.9  per  cent  for  the  first  grade.  In  other 
words,  the  normal  age  group  of  entrance  to  the  first  grade  increased 
10  per  cent  in  the  last  eight  years. 

Since  elimination  is  obviously  greatest  among  the  over-age 
group,  very  few  of  them  reach  the  eighth  grade.  Of  those  who 
enter  the  first  grade  at  the  age  of  eight  only  one-sixth  reach  the 
eighth  grade,  and  only  one  in  ten  of  these  nine  years  old  at 
entrance  reach  the  seventh  grade.     It  was  therefore  impossible 

(45) 


46      EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

to  measure  accurately  the  changes  in  the  per  cent  of  over-age 
pupils  upon  entrance,  for  these  eight  years.  For  the  last  two 
years  the  percentages  of  over-age  pupils  were  5.5  and  5.3  per 
cent,  the  ages  of  the  former  varying  from  eight  to  twelve,  and 
of  the  latter  from  eight  to  eleven. 

As  shown  in  the  following  table  there  is  a  decided  difference 
between  the  average  ages  of  those  who  completed  the  grade  in  a 
half  year,  a  year,  a  year  and  a  half,  and  those  who  spent  two  years 
or  more  in  the  same  grades.  The  average  reduction  between  the 
first  and  last  group  for  the  first  four  years  was  six-tenths  of  a  year. 

Table  XXIII. — Average  Ages  of  Pupils  Who  Spent  a  Half 

Year,  a  Year,  a  Year  and  a  Half,  and  Two  Years 

AND  Over  in  the  Same  Grade. 

Grades         i  year  1  year         li  years      2  years  and  over 

1  7.06  6.67  •        6.38  6.21 

2  8.00  7.63  7.54  7.26 

3  8.91  8.77  8.66  8.47 

4  9.85  9.94  9.68  9.47 

5  10.74  10.54  10.62  10.88 

The  average  ages  of  the  pupils  who  spent  two  years  and  over 
in  the  same  grade  increased  .67  of  a  year  above  the  normal  allow- 
ance from  the  first  to  the  fifth  grade.  The  rate  of  increase  in 
this  connection  is  especially  worthy  of  note.  The  increase  from 
the  first  to  the  second  grade  is  only  .05  of  a  year  above  the  normal, 
but  from  the  second  to  the  third  grade  .21  of  a  year.  Then  from 
the  third  to  the  fourth  grade  there  is  no  increase  above  the  normal, 
but  from  the  fourth  to  the  fifth  grade  there  is  a  decided  increase 
of  .41  of  a  year  above  the  normal.  This  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  adaptation  of  the  course  of  study  or  methods  of  teaching  to 
the  average  mental  status  of  the  pupils  enrolled,  varies  in  the 
different  grades,  the  average  child  taking  longer  to  complete  some 
grades  than  others. 

On  the  average  there  is  very  little  difference  between  the 
ages  of  entrance  of  the  boys  and  girls.  As  shown  in  the  following 
table  the  average  of  entrance  of  the  boys  to  the  first  grade  was 
6.28  years  and  of  the  girls  6.27  years.  But  on  account  of  the 
greater  retardation  among  the  boys,  the  difference  increases  to 
almost  a  fourth  of  a  year  in  the  fourth  grade.  The  reduction  below 
the  normal  rate  of  increase  for  the  boys  from  the  fourth  to  the 
fifth  grade,  and  for  the  girls  from  the  fifth  to  the  sixth  grade, 


AGE  OF  ENTRANCE.  47 

seems  to  contradict  the  statement  that  for  the  boys  retardation 
reaches  its  maximum  in  the  fifth  grade  and  for  the  girls  in  the 
fourth  grade.  The  reason  for  this  apparent  anomaly  is  found 
in  table  XIV,  which  shows  that  5.9  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  only 
2.8  per  cent  of  the  girls  completed  the  fourth  grade  in  a  half 
year,  thus  reducing  the  age  for  the  former  in  the  fifth  grade.  But 
in  this  same  grade  1.9  per  cent  more  of  the  boys  spent  two  years 
and  over  in  the  grade. 

The  maximum  effect  of  retardation  in  increasing  the  average 
age  of  the  grade  is  .70  of  a  year  in  the  fourth  grade  for  the  boys, 
and  .50  of  a  year  in  the  fifth  grade  for  the  girls.  In  other 
words,  it  will  take  the  average  boy  of  the  fourth  grade  8.70  years 
to  complete  the  eight  elementary  grades  and  the  average  girl 
of  the  fifth  grade  8.50  years.  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  course  of  study  or  method  of  teaching  is  too  advanced  for  the 
average  child  and  is  responsible  for  some  of  the  retardation. 

Table  XXIY. — Average  Ages  of  Pupils  in  the  Elementary 
Grades  in  October,   1908. 

Grade  Male 

1  6.28 

2  7.62 

3  8.77 

4  9.98 

5  .      10.92 

6  11.71 

7  12.68 

8  13.70 

The  effect  of  elimination  becomes  especially  operative  from 
the  fifth  to  the  sixth  grade,  reducing  the  average  age  for  the 
boys  .21  of  a  year  and  for  the  girls  .24  of  a  year.  In  the  seventh 
grade  is  found  the  maximum  difference  of  .29  of  a  year  between 
the  ages  of  the  boys  and  girls,  there  being  another  reduction  of 
.16  of  a  year  for  the  girls  and  only  .03  of  a  year  for  the  boys. 
The  maximum  effect  of  elimination  is  a  reduction  of  .30  of  a  year 
in  the  ages  of  the  boys  and  .40  of  a  year  in  the  ages  of  the  girls. 

In  order  to  find  out  what  part  the  age  of  entrance  plays  in 
school  progress,  the  percentages  of  those  pupils  who  made  normal 
progress,  those  who  lost  one  year,  and  those  who  lost  two  years, 
were  computed  for  the  ages  three  and  a  half  to  eleven  years,  for 
grades  two  to  eight.     As  shown  in  the  following  table,  26.2  per 


Female 

Differences 

6.27 

.01 

7.54 

.08 

8.69 

.08 

9.75 

.23 

10.77 

.15 

11.53 

.18 

12.37 

.29 

13.54 

.16 

48       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

cent  of  those  who  entered  school  at  the  age  of  four  and  a  half 
and  below  made  normal  progress,  32.2  per  cent  lost  one  year, 
and  41.7  per  cent  lost  two  years.  Of  the  boys  and  girls  who 
entered  at  the  age  of  five,  19.7  per  cent  made  normal  progress, 
41.8  per  cent  lost  one  year,  and  38.6  per  cent  lost  two  years.  Of 
those  who  entered  at  the  age  of  five  and  a  half,  27.6  per  cent  made 
normal  progress,  44.7  per  cent  lost  one  year,  and  27.8  per  cent 
lost  two  years,  a  decrease  of  13.9  per  cent  in  the  number  who  lost 
two  years,  and  an  increase  of  12.5  per  cent  in  the  number  who  lost 
but  one  year.  Taking  the  group  who  entered  the  first  grade 
below  the  normal  age  of  six,  as  a  whole,  24.5  per  cent  made  normal 
progress,  39.6  per  cent  lost  one  year,  and  36  per  cent  lost  two  years. 

Table  XXV. — Comparison  of  Xokmal  Peogeess,  and  One  and 
Two  Year  Losses  on  the  Basis  of  Age  of  Entrance. 


Ages 

Normal  Prog. 

Average 

Lost  1  year 

Average 

Lost  2  years 

Average 

4i  &  below 

26.2 

32.2 

41.7 

5 

19.7 

41.8 

38.6 

5i 

27.6 

24.5 

44.7 

39.6 

27.8 

36.0 

6 

40.4 

38.9 

20.7 

7 

41.1 

40.8 

36.5 

37.7 

22.4 

21.6 

8 

45.9 

38.5 

,  15.6 

9 

58.1 

41.9 

0 

10  &  above 

70.7 

58.2 

19.3 

33.2 

10.0 

8.5 

In  the  normal  group  there  is  very  little  difference  in  the 
progress  of  those  who  entered  at  the  age  of  six  and  those  who 
entered  at  seven.  Approximately  41  per  cent  made  normal  prog- 
ress, 38  per  cent  lost  one  year,  and  21  per  cent  lost  two  years. 
Comparing  the  progress  of  this  group  with  that  of  the  preceding 
shows  that  16  per  cent  more  of  the  normal  group  made  normal 
progress,  2  per  cent  less  lost  one  year,  and  15  per  cent  less  lost 
two  years.  Although  not  complete  in  their  analysis,  these  results 
certainly  seem  to  warrant  the  exclusion  from  school  of  all  chil- 
dren below  the  age  of  six.  It  shows  that  very  few  boys  and  girls 
are  mentally  qualified,  to  say  nothing  of  their  physical  qualifica- 
tions, to  take  up  the  required  work  of  the  first  grade  below  the 
age  of  six.  Such  exclusion,  resulting  in  a  reduction  of  the  losses 
sustained  in  the  elementary  grades,  w^ill  not  only  be  an  economic 
gain,  but  a  real  benefit  to  the  children  in  question. 


AGE  OF  ENTRANCE.  49 

Table  XXVI. — Comparison  of  Xormal  Progress,  and  One 
AND  Two  Year  Losses  in  Groups. 

Groups  Normal  Prog.  Lost  1  year  Lost  2  years 

Below  normal  age 24.5  39.6  36.0 

ISTormal  age   40.7  37.7  21.6 

Above  normal  age 58.2  33.2  8.5 

Of  the  group  above  normal  age,  the  number  who  made  normal 
progress  obviously  increases  from  the  ages  eight  to  eleven,  and 
the  losses  of  two  years  decrease,  the  average  of  the  former  being 
58.2  per  cent  and  of  the  latter  8.5  per  cent.  The  one  year  losses 
vary  but  little,  the  average  for  this  group  being  33.2  per  cent, 
6.4  per  cent  less  than  of  the  first  group. 

Another  factor  to  be  considered  relative  to  entrance  is  the 
number  of  additions  to  the  different  grades  other  than  through 
promotion.  Since  there  is  no  uniformity  of  instruction  in  our 
public  school  systems,  a  change  in  residence  from  one  locality  or 
city  to  another  means  in  most  cases  a  loss  of  a  year  or  more  to 
the  child  of  public  school  age,  and  as  such  it  plays  an  important 
part  in  retardation.  According  to  the  records  on  the  blanks,  and 
for  an  average  of  two  years,  only  948  per  thousand  entered  the 
second  grade  through  promotion.  Fifty-two  were  admitted  from 
other  schools.  In  the  third  grade  55  pupils  per  thousand  had 
completed  grades  one  and  two  in  other  schools,  and  in  grade  four 
36  per  thousand  completed  the  previous  grades  in  other  schools. 
The  increase  in  the  number  admitted  to  the  fifth  grade  is  undoubt- 
edly due  to  the  fact  that  two  of  the  parochial  schools  teach  only 
the  first  four  grades,  which  also  applies  to  the  increase  in  the 
eighth  grade,  so  that  41  per  thousand  may  be  somewhat  higher 
than  the  average  per  cent  of  admission  to  this  grade. 

Table    XXVII. — Entrances    Per    Thousand    Other    Than 
Through  Promotion  to  Grades  Two  to  Eight. 

Grades  Per  thousand  enrolled 

2  52 

3  55 

4  36 

5  '  41 

6  28 

7  20 

8  27  259 


60       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

The  admissions  to  the  upper  three  grades  were  respectively 
28,  20  and  27  per  thousand,  a  total  admission  of  259  to  these 
seven  grades,  or  an  average  annual  admission  per  grade  from 
other  schools  of  37  per  thousand. 

Table  XXVIII. — Pek  Cent  of  the  IiTumbeb  in  Each  Grade 
Who  Weee  Admitted  Afteb  the  Fikst  Grade. 

Grades  Per  cent 

2  6.2 

3  '  10.7 

4  14.3 
6  18.4 
6  21.2 
r  23.2 
8  25.9 

To  show  the  full  effect  on  each  grade  of  this  constant  accretion 
from  other  schools,  the  above  table  must  be  recast  on  a  summation 
basis.  As  a  class  goes  up  through  the  grades,  some  pupils  fall 
behind  and  others  are  added  from  outside  sources,  so  that  even 
by  the  end  of  the  second  year  5.2  per  cent  of  the  enrolment  had  not 
belonged  to  the  class  the  first  year.  By  the  end  of  the  third  year 
10.7  per  cent  of  the  enrolment  were  additions,  and  by  the  end  of 
the  fourth  year  14.3  per  cent.  During  the  fifth  year  even  more 
are  added  than  in  the  preceding  year,  the  total  change  being 
18.4  per  cent.  With  the  number  added  in  the  sixth  grade  we  have 
21.3  per  cent  who  have  been  admitted  to  the  class  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  year.  As  shown  in  the  preceding  table,  2  per 
cent  more  are  added  in  the  seventh  grade,  and  2.7  per  cent  in  the 
eighth,  making  a  total  increase  in  the  enrolment  from  the  first 
grade  of  25.9  per  cent. 

It  was  impossible  with  the  data  on  hand  to  compute  accurately 
the  amount  of  loss  sustained  through  change  in  residence.  But 
a  fair  approximation  to  it  can  be  obtained  by  computing  on  the 
one  hand  the  average  age  for  each  grade  of  those  who  received  all 
their  instruction  in  the  Reading  public  schools,  and  on  the  other 
the  average  age  of  those  who  took  the  work  of  one  or  more  grades 
in  another  school. 

In  the  following  table  are  shown  the  average  ages  of  these 
two  groups  for  grades  five,  six,  seven,  and  eight. 


AGE  OF  ENTRANCE,  51 

Table  XXIX. — Average  Ages  of  Those  Who  Attended  only 

THE  Reading  Public  Schools,  and  of  Those  Who 

formerly  Completed  One  or  More  Years 

IN  Another  School. 


Qradea 

5 

Reading  schools 
Male                 Female 

11.56         11.26 

only 

Average 

11.41 

One  or  more  years  in  another  school 
Male                 Female             Average 

12.35          12.06         12.21 

6 

12.22 

11.92 

12.07 

12.70 

12.50 

12.60 

7 

12.93 

12.72 

12.83 

13.17 

13.12 

13.15 

8 

13.68 

13.50 

13.59 

13.98 

13.89 

13.94 

With  an  average  difference  of  .80  of  a  year  between  the  ages 
of  the  two  groups  in  the  fifth  grade,  .53  of  a  year  in  the  sixth,  .32 
of  a  year  in  the  seventh,  and  .35  of  a  year  in  the  eighth  grade,  the 
retarding  effect  of  a  change  in  residence  becomes  very  evident. 

Computing  the  total  losses  thus  sustained  by  multiplying  the 
average  loss  per  child  by  the  number  in  each  of  the  above  -Q-ve 
grades  who  entered  from  other  schools,  then  converting  these 
years  into  school  months,  we  obtain  the  following  table: 

Table   XXX. — Loss   Sustained  by  Pupils  in   Grades  Five, 
Six,  Seven,  and  Eight  through  Change  in  Residence. 


Number  from 
other  schools 
Grades        M.          F. 

Total  number  of 
months  lost 
M.              F. 

Number  of  months 

lost  through  change 

M.             F. 

Per  cent  of  total  losa 
M.             F.            Av. 

5       170 

120 

7,665 

4,915 

1333 

960 

17.4 

19.5 

18.4 

•6      146 

139 

3,720 

2,630 

701 

806 

18.8 

30.6 

24.7 

7       63 

88 

2,025 

2,050 

151 

352 

7.5 

17.2 

12.4 

8       51 

59 

1,065 

1,190 

153 

230 

14.4 

19.3 

16.9 

Totals  430 

406 

14,475 

•10,785 

2338 

2348 

16.2 

21.8 

19.0 

On  the  blanks  170  male  and  120  female  pupils  of  the  fifth 
grade  were  recorded  as  having  completed  one  or  more  years  in 
another  school.  Since  the  boys  on  the  average  are  .79  of  a  year 
older  than  those  of  their  class  who  attended  only  the  Reading 
public  schools,  and  the  girls  .80  of  a  year,  the  total  loss  thus 
sustained  by  the  boys  is  1333  months  and  by  the  girls  960  months. 
The  total  number  of  months  lost  by  the  boys  of  this  grade  is 
7665,  and  by  the  girls  4915  months.  The  boys  therefore  lost 
17.4  per  cent  of  the  total  loss  through  changes  in  the  schools 
attended,  and  the  girls  19.5  per  cent.  On  this  same  basis  the 
amount  of  loss  sustained  by  the  boys  of  the  sixth  grade  was  18.8 
per  cent  of  the  total  and  by  the  girls  30.6  per  cent. 


52       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

Since  the  computations  for  the  boys  in  the  seventh  grade 
had  to  be  based  upon  a  number  considerably  less  than  the  actual 
male  enrolment  in  this  grade,  the  Y.5  per  cent  given  in  the  table 
is  no  doubt  considerably  less  than  the  actual  per  cent  of  loss 
sustained  through  change  of  schools.  The  loss  similarly  incurred 
by  the  girls  of  this  grade  was  17.2  per  cent  of  the  total,  and  in  the 
eighth  grade  they  were  respectively  14.4:  per  cent  and  19.3  per 
cent  of  the  total. 

In  the  last  three  grades  especially,  the  per  cent  of  the  loss 
sustained  by  the  girls  through  change  of  schools  is  considerably 
greater  than  for  the  boys,  and  on  the  average  5.6  per  cent  greater. 
This  seems  to  be  too  great  a  disparity,  and  is  evidence  of  the  need 
of  further  research  along  this  line.  If  it  be  true  that  approxi- 
mately 20  per  cent  of  the  total  losses  by  the  pupils  enrolled  in 
grades  five  to  eight  are  due  to  change  of  residence,  or  a  change 
from  private  to  public  school,  the  losses  thus  sustained  demand 
due  consideration  in  a  study  of  the  causes  of  retardation.  And 
before  fixing  the  responsibility,  such  factors  as  non-attendance 
and  late  entrance  must  likewise  be  considered. 


V. 

Elimination. 

Elimination  is  closely  allied  to  retardation.  In  the  perusal 
of  school  records  of  enrolment  it  is  the  first  factor  that  claims 
our  attention.  When  we  notice  that  for  every  one  hundred 
enrolled  in  the  first  grade  there  are  only  27  in  the  eighth  grade, 
its  presence  and  effectiveness  become  still  more  evident. 

On  the  average,  during  the  years  1903-1908,  the  number 
enrolled  in  the  second  grade  for  the  month  of  October  was  15.9 
per  cent  less  than  in  the  first  grade.  The  numbers  enrolled  in 
grades  two,  three,  and  four  were  on  the  average  nearly  equal. 
From  grade  four  to  ^ve  the  diminution  began  to  be  more  pro- 
nounced, having  been  on  the  average  8.7  per  cent  during  these 
six  years.  But  the  most  decided  change  was  from  the  fifth  to  the 
eighth  grade,  with  an  average  reduction  of  24.5,  31,  and  32.1 
per  cent. 

During  the  same  years  the  per  cent  of  decrease  from  grade 
one  to  two,  grade  one  to  three,  and  so  on,  based  upon  the  average 
enrolment  in  each  grade  for  these  years,  is  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing table: 

Table  XXXI. — Per  Cent  of  Decrease  throughout  the 
Eight  Elementary  Grades,  Based  upon  the 
,  Enrolment  in  the  First  Grade 

Grades  Male  Female  Average 

i             First  to  second   18.5  13.2  15.9 

p:               "     "    third    19.6  12.3  16.4 

''     "    fourth    17.9  15.0  16.4 

"     "    fifth    27.0  22.7  24.8 

"     "    sixth    48.6  39.2  43.9 

"     "    seventh    65.9  56.4  61.1 

eighth   77.1  70.1  73.6 


a      a 


The  marked  decrease  from  the  first  to  the  second  grade  as 
compared  with  the  decrease  from  the  first  to  the  third  and  the 
first  to  the  fourth,  is  due  to  the  large  per  cent  of  repeaters  in  the 
first  grade.  If  the  number  who  lose  a  half  year  be  deducted,  the 
enrolment  in  the  first  four  grades  will  be  approximately  equal. 

(53) 


54       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

But  after  the  fourth  grade  the  number  eliminated  increases 
rapidly  until  in  the  eighth  there  are  only  23  boys  and  30  girls 
left  out  of  every  one  hundred  boys  and  one  hundred  girls  enrolled 
in  the  first  grade. 

As  shown  in  this  table,  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  boys 
from  the  fourth  to  the  fifth  grade  is  greater  than  in  the  number 
of  girls.  This  is  not  a  contradiction  of  the  fact  stated  in  the 
section  on  retardation,  that  more  of  the  girls  leave  the  fourth  grade 
than  of  the  boys.  This  has  been  true  during  the  last  two  years 
(1907  and  1908).  The  reason  for  this  apparent  contradiction 
is  that  more  of  the  girls  were  immediately  benefited  by  the  new 
course  of  study.  During  the  last  two  years  the  average  decrease 
in  the  number  of  girls  from  the  first  to  the  fifth  grade  was  26.5 
per  cent  and  in  the  number  of  boys  only  21.1  per  cent.  The 
18.4  per  cent  of  the  number  of  girls  who  left  in  the  fourth  grade 
to  go  to  work  as  compared  with  the  10.4  per  cent  of  the  number 
of  boys,  also  corroborates  the  fact  that  more  girls  than  boys  drop 
out  of  school  from  the  fourth  to  the  fifth  grade. 

Table  XXXII. — Average  Decrease  in  the  October  Enrol- 
ment IN  1907  AND  1908. 

Grades  Male  Female  Average 

First  to  second    17.0  14.1  15.6 

''  "  third    18.9  12.1  15.5 

"  ''  fourth    .... 15.1  10.7  12.9 

"  ''  fifth    21.1  26.5  23.8 

''  "  sixth   47.3  42.4  44.9 

''  "  seventh    66.9  58.3  62.6 

''  "  eighth   77.1  72.1  74.6 

On  account  of  the  changes  made,  the  fluctuations  in  the  en- 
rolment of  the  different  grades  previous  to  1906  were  more  or  less 
abnormal.  It  therefore  seems  advisable  to  compare  with  the 
above  figures  the  average  decrease  and  elimination  throughout  the 
grades  during  the  last  two  years.  Comparing  this  table  with  the 
preceding,  shows  that  during  the  last  two  years  the  apparent 
elimination,  or  in  other  words  the  number  of  repeaters  in  the 
first  five  grades,  has  decreased  5.7  per  cent,  and  the  elimination  in 
grades  six,  seven,  and  eight  has  increased  3.5  per  cent.  This  is 
another  evidence  of  the  marked  and  constant  improvement  in  the 
elementary  grades.  It  means  that  during  the  last  two  years  the 
number  of  repeaters  has  been  diminished  nearly  6  per  cent,  in 
the  lower  grades,  and  that  a  larger  per  cent  reaches  grades  five  and 
six,  thus  temporarily  increasing  the  per  cent  of  elimination  in 


ELIMINATION.  55 

grades  seven  and  eight.  The  number  eliminated  from  the  eighth 
grade  to  the  first  year  of  the  high  school  has  also  increased  for 
the  boys  from  4.6  per  cent  in  the  fall  of  1906  to  14.1  per  cent 
in  1907,  and  to  15.8  per  cent  in  1908.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  opening  of  the  new  Boys'  High  School  was  an  incentive 
strong  enough  to  hold  nearly  all  the  boys  who  completed  the 
eighth  grade  that  year.  For  the  girls  the  elimination  for  the 
same  years  was  22.2,  22.3,  and  12.9  per  cent  respectively,  a 
decided  improvement  for  the  last  year. 

The  additions  that  are  constantly  made  are  thus  more  than 
balanced  by  the  withdrawals,  especially  during  the  second  term. 
Unfortunately  the  records  were  not  complete  enough  to  make 
possible  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  causes  of  leaving.  Out  of  993 
cases  of  leaving,  30  per  cent  furnished  no  information  with  regard 
to  the  causes.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to  compute  accurately 
the  per  cent  that  go  to  work,  or  leave  the  city,  or  enter  the 
parochial  schools,  or  drop  out  for  other  reasons.  Classifying  the 
withdrawals  under  these  four  heads,  and  including  the  few  deaths 
under  the  miscellaneous,  we  find  that  30.6  per  cent  left  to  go  to 
work,  17.4  per  cent  left  the  city,  and  21.3  per  cent  went  to  the 
parochial  schools.  The  remaining  30.4  per  cent  must  be  classed 
under  miscellaneous. 

Table  XXXIII. — Causes  and  Percentages  of  Withdrawals. 

Went  to  parochial 
Went  to  work  Left  the  city  school  Miscellaneous 

Boys   30.7  17.0  20.8  31.3 

Girls    30.5  17.8  21.8  29.7 

Average    30.6  17.4  21.3  30.4 

Disregarding  the  causes  and  classifying  them  according  to 
grade,  we  obtain  the  following  table: 

Table  XXXIY. — Percentages  of  Withdrawals  in  Each 

Grade. 

12  34  5678 

Boys   17.6     15.6     16.2     13.0     11.2     13.4     7.2     4.6 

Girls    14.6     16.0     13.0     15.6     12.4     10.6     9.0     8.2 

Average 16.1     15.8     14.6     14.3     11.8     12.0     8.1     6.4 

Judging  from  these  993  cases  of  withdrawals,  it  would  seem 
that  approximately  16.0  per  cent  leave  in  the  first  two  grades, 
14.5  per  cent  in  grades  three  and  four,  12  per  cent  in  grades  five 
and  six,  8  per  cent  in  the  seventh,  and  6  per  cent  in  the  eighth. 


66       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

Of  more  direct  interest  is  the  grade  distribution  in  four 
groups  based  upon  the  causes  of  leaving  just  mentioned.  None 
of  those  who  went  to  work  left  in  the  first  grade.  Of  the  boys 
of  this  group,  2.6  per  cent  left  in  the  second  grade,  and  .6  per  cent 
of  the  girls.  More  than  a  tenth  of  the  boys  left  in  the  third  grade, 
and  only  2.6  per  cent  of  the  girls.  Another  tenth  of  the  boys  left 
in  the  fourth  grade  and  18.4  per  cent  of  the  girls,  an  increase  of 
15.8  per  cent  over  the  third.  Adding  to  these  the  number  leaving 
in  the  fifth  grade,  we  have  43.0  per  cent  of  the  boys  who  do  not 
get  beyond  the  fifth  grade,  and  46.6  per  cent  of  the  girls.  Exactly 
one-fourth  of  the  girls  of  this  group  left  in  the  fifth  grade  and 

Table   XXXV. — Grade  Distribution   of  the  Withdrawals 
ON  THE  Basis  of  Cause  of  Leaving. 


Went  to  work 
Grade  M.         F.        Av. 

10            0            0 

Left  city 
M.          F. 

35.2  31.4 

Av. 

33.3 

Went  to  parochial 

school 
M.             F.         Av. 

23.0  25.9  24.4 

Miscellaneous 
M.          F.         Av. 

21.7    11.4  16.5 

2 

2.6 

.6 

1.6 

27.0 

16.8 

21.9 

27.8 

35.1 

31.4 

14.7 

17.5  16.1 

3 

11.1 

2.6 

6.9 

14.2 

16.8 

15.5 

30.7 

27.7 

29.2 

15.3 

10.8  13.0 

4 

10.4 

18.4 

14.4 

12.9 

10.1 

11.5 

13.4 

8.3 

10.9 

15.3 

21.6  18.4 

5 

18.9 

25.0 

22.0 

4.7 

11.2 

7.9 

4.8 

.9 

2.9 

10.8 

8.7    9.8 

6 

32.0 

20.3 

26.2 

3.5 

6.7 

5.1 

0 

0 

0 

9.6 

10.8  10.2 

7 

15.6 

17.7 

16.7 

0 

4.4 

2.2 

0 

0 

0 

7.6 

9.5    8.6 

8 

9.1 

15.1 

12.1 

2.3 

2.2 

2.3 

0 

1.8 

.9 

4.4 

9.5    6.9 

another  one-fifth  in  the  sixth.  The  largest  number  eliminated  of 
this  group  was  32  per  cent  (boys)  in  the  sixth  grade.  Three  and 
six-tenths  per  cent  more  girls  than  boys  were  eliminated  during 
the  first  'G.Ye  grades.  But  as  previously  said,  more  of  the  girls 
continue  to  grades  six,  seven  and  eight,  so  that  by  the  end  of 
the  sixth  grade  exactly  three-fourths  of  the  boys  of  this  group 
have  been  eliminated  and  only  66.9  per  cent  of  the  girls.  In  the 
seventh  grade  15.6  per  cent  more  of  the  boys  and  17.7  per  cent 
more  of  the  girls  are  eliminated,  a  total  of  90.6  per  cent  of  the 
boys  and  84.6  per  cent  of  the  girls,  for  the  first  seven  grades, 
leaving  approximately  9  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  15  per  cent 
of  the  girls  who  continued  to  the  eighth  grade. 

The  records  of  134  boys  and  147  girls  who  went  to  work, 
show  that  onl}^  20  per  cent  of  the  former  and  24  per  cent  of  the 
latter  made  normal  progress.  Two  boys  and  one  girl  gained  one 
year  and  two  girls  a  year  and  a  half.  The  remaining  112  boys 
lost  from  one-half  to  -^ve  years  and  the  120  girls  from  one-half 
to  four  and  a  half  years.  Four  boys  and  9  girls  lost  one  term, 
and  38  boys  and  32  girls  two  terms.  Six  boys  and  11  girls  lost 
three  terms,  and  23  boys  and  40  girls  four  terms.     Of  the  remain- 


ELIMINATION, 


57 


ing  41  boys  and  28  girls,  9  boys  and  3  girls  lost  five  terms,  and 
23  boys  and  18  girls  six  terms.  Seven  boys  and  six  girls  lost 
eight  terms,  one  girl  nine  terms,  and  two  boys  ten  terms,  or 
five  years.  Expressed  in  percentages,  47.8  per  cent  of  the  boys 
and  46.3  per  cent  of  the  girls  lost  two  years  and  over,  and  23.9 
per  cent  of  the  boys  and  17.1  per  cent  of  the  girls  lost  three 
years  and  over. 

Of  those  who  left  the  city,  by  far  the  largest  number  left 
in  the  first  grade,  35.2  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  31.4  per  cent  of 
the  girls.  Taken  as  a  whole  the  disparity  between  boys  and  girls 
is  considerably  less  in  this  group.  The  greatest  difference  is  in 
the  second  grade,  where  27.0  per  cent  of  the  boys  of  this  group 
and  only  16.8  per  cent  of  the  girls  left  the  city.  On  the  average 
there  is  an  uninterrupted  decrease  from  the  first  to  the  seventh 
grade  in  the  number  leaving  the  city. 

Of  the  number  who  go  to  the  parochial  school,  the  disparity 
between  the  boys  and  girls  is  even  less  than  in  the  preceding 
group,  the  greatest  difference  being  in  the  second  grade,  where 
27.8  per  cent  of  the  boys  of  this  group  and  35  per  cent  of  the 
girls  left  the  public  schools.  On  the  average  29.2  per  cent  left 
in  the  third  grade,  10.9  per  cent  in  the  fourth,  and  2.9  per  cent 
in  the  fifth.  On  account  of  the  uncertainty,  it  is  obvious  that 
very  little  significance  can  be  attached  to  the  miscellaneous  group. 

In  diagrams  12  and  13  is  showni  the  approximate  relation 
between  retardation  and  elimination,  the  former  on  the  basis  of 
the  number  in  each  grade  and  the  latter  on  the  basis  of  age.  In 
each  diagram  the  dotted  line  represents  the  number  of  normal 
age  pupils. 


000 

1800 

1600 

, , 

1400 

■-- 

1200 

1000 

800 

... 



600 

400 

■-- 

200 

1         23456        78 
Diagram  12.     Relation  of  retardation  and 
elimination  on  basis  of  number  in  each 
grade. 


5       6       7       8       9       10     11     12     13     14     15     16     17 
Diagram  13.     Relation  of  retardation  and  elimination  in 
elementary  grades  on  basis  of  age. 


VI. 

Attendance. 

According  to  the  common  school  laws  of  Pennsylvania  each 
school  board  is  authorized  to  fix  the  compulsory  standard  of  attend- 
ance for  the  ensuing  year  at  its  June  meeting,  provided  such 
standard  is  not  below  70  per  cent  of  the  number  of  days  in  the 
school  year  of  the  said  district.  This  means  that  every  child 
between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  must  attend  at  least  one 
hundred  and  forty  days  in  a  school  year  of  ten  months,  unless 
excused  by  the  school  board  "upon  the  presentation  of  satisfac- 
tory evidence  showing  that  such  child  is  prevented  from  attend- 
ance upon  school  or  application  to  study  by  mental,  physical,  or 
other  urgent  reasons." 

There  are  perhaps  no  data  in  the  school  records  and  reports 
that  are  more  obscure  and  meaningless  than  the  percentages  of 
attendance.  In  many  cases  they  are  analogous  to  the  unknown 
quantity  x  in  algebra,  whose  real  value  must  first  be  computed 
to  make  it  concrete  and  definite.  In  one  report  98  per  cent  of 
attendance  may  be  in  reality  the  same  as  89  per  cent  in  another 
report.  In  the  one  case  all  pupils  with  an  absence  of  two,  three, 
four,  or  more  successive  days  are  temporarily  dropped  from  the 
roll,  at  least  in  the  *  computation  of  the  per  cent  of  attendance, 
while  in  the  other  they  are  kept  on  the  roll  until  the  end  of  the 
month  or  until  they  shall  have  left  school  permanently.  Such 
diverse  methods  ought  not  to  prevail  in  the  same  country,  and 
much  less  in  the  same  state.  They  are  therefore  problems  to  be 
considered  by  our  state  educational  associations.  It  is  obvious 
that  as  long  as  the  school  reports  obscure  the  existing  conditions, 
thus  keeping  the  community  in  ignorance,  we  cannot  expect  con- 
certed action  in  effecting  a  change  in  the  remediable  causes  pro- 
ducing such  conditions. 

Under  normal  conditions  normal  progress  means  regular 
attendance,  irregular  attendance  means  retardation,  and  retarda- 
tion means  early  elimination.  It  is  therefore  essential  to  consider 
in  detail  the  factor  of  attendance  in  its  relation  to  these  elements. 
When  we  consider  that  for  a  possible  attendance  of  1,308,255  days 
by  the  6709  boys  and  girls  included  in  the  following  discussions, 
we  Tiave  only  an  actual  attendance  of  1,161,759  days,  a  loss  of 

(58) 


ATTENDANCE, 


69 


146,496  days  or  more  than  11  per  cent,  the  importance  of  the 
factor  of  attendance  in  its  relation  to  school  progress  becomes 
clearly  evident. 

Of  these  6709  boys  and  girls,  4889  belonged  to  the  promoted 
class  for  1907-1908  and  1820  to  the  non-promoted.  Classified 
according  to  grade  they  are  as  follows: 


Table  XXXVI. — Classification 

BY  Grades  of 

4889  Pupils 

Promoted  and  1820 

NOT  Promoted. 

Promoted 

Non-promoted 

Grades 

M.                F. 

Total 

M. 

F. 

Total 

1 

309             375 

684 

241 

185 

426 

2 

369         370 

739 

204 

124 

328 

3 

364         461 

825 

125 

121 

246 

4 

447         418 

865 

146 

148 

294 

6 

403          344 

747 

191 

128 

319 

6 

259         343 

602 

77 

55 

132 

7 

191         236 

427 

27 

26 

53 

8 

11 

11 

22 

Totals 

2352       2547 

4889 

1022 

798 

1820 

The  relative  attendance  of  these  two  groups  is  shown  in  the 
following  table  in  periods  of  ten  days,  with  lines  dividing  the  table 
into  periods  of  one-fourth  the  number  of  days  in  a  ten  months' 
term. 


Table  XXXVIII. — Attendance  of  Promoted  and  I^on-pro- 

MOTED  Pupils  on  the  Basis  of  a  Thousand,  and 

Percentages  in  Groups  of  One-fourth. 

Days  Promoted         Per  cent         Non -promoted         Per  cent 

190  to  200 284            162 

180  "  190 289            188 

170  "  180 169            154 

160  "  170 107            113 

150  "  160 57  90.6       96      71.3 

140  to  150 41             72 

130  "  140 25             61 

120  "  130 12             38 

110  "  120 7            27 

100  "  110 4  8.9       28      22.6 


60       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

Table  XXXVIII      {Continued). 
Days  Promoted         Per  cent         Non-promoted         Per  cent 

90  to  100 1  20 

80   "     90 1  12 

70  "     80 1  11 

60   "     70 1  6 

60    "     60 A  4  5.3 

40  to  50 1  2 

30   ''  40 1 

20   "  30 .  4 

10    ^^  20 .1  1  .8 

1000        100.0  1000  100.0 

Since  the  relation  between  the  two  groups  in  this  table  is 
based  upon  the  attendance  of  pupils  who  belonged  the  entire 
year,  entering  not  later  than  October,  the  reason  for  which  is 
given  later,  the  percentages  of  attendance  for  three-fourths  and 
less  of  the  time  for  both  groups  represent  the  minimum  per- 
centages. They  would  obviously  be  increased  if  the  attendance 
of  the  total  enrolment  were  taken,  especially  for  the  non-pro- 
moted group.  Even  on  this  minimum  basis  the  effect  of  irreg- 
ular or  non-attendance  as  a  factor  causing  retardation  is  dis- 
tinctly shown. 

Grouping  them  on  the  basis  of  fourths  of  the  number  of 
days,  we  obtain  the  following  table  from  the  foregoing. 

Table    XXXVIII. — Percentages    of    Attendance    on    the 
Basis  of  Fourths  of  the  I^umber  of  Days. 

Days  attended  Promoted  Non-promoted  Difference 

More  than  three-fourths 90.6  71.3  19.3 

One-half  to  three-fourths 8.9  22.6  13.7 

One-fourth  to  one-half .4  5.3  4.9 

Less  than  one-fourth .1  .8  .7 


100.0   '  100.0  38.6 

As  shown  in  the  table,  19.3  per  cent  more  of  the  promoted 
group  attended  more  than  three-fourths  the  number  of  days  taught ; 
13.7  per  cent  more  of  the  non-promoted  group  attended  only  from 
one-half  to  three-fourths  the  time;  and  5.6  per  cent  more  attended 
less  than  half  the  time,  the  total  difference  being  38.6  per  cent. 


ATTENDANCE. 


Gl 


In  diagram  14  is  shown  the  relative  attendance  of  both  the 
promoted  and  the  non-promoted  group.  The  broken  bars  represent 
the  per  cent  of  the  non-promoted  who  attended  less  than  the  num- 
ber of  days  recorded  at  the  head  of  the  column  and  the  dotted 
bars  the  per  cent  of  the  promoted  group. 


Diagram  14.  Attendance  of  1856  pupils  not  promoted,  and  4889  pupils  promoted. 
White  ground  represents  attendance,  broken  bars  the  absences  of  the  former, 
and  solid  bars  the  absences  of  the  latter. 


The  actual  number  of  days  taught  in  1907-1908  was  195. 
In  order  to  measure  more  accurately  the  number  of  pupils  who 
attended  70  per  cent  of  the  time,  thus  living  up  to  the  state 
requirements,  the  195  days  are  divided  into  groups  of  thirty 
days,  on  the  basis  of  two  hundred,  with  the  exception  of  49 
days  and  below,  which  are  comparatively  few  in  number  and 
are  therefore  placed  in  one  group.  In  obtaining  the  possible 
number  of  days,  the  195  days  taught  were  used,  and  to  get 
the  actual  number  of  days  attended,  the  number  who  attended 
190  days  and  over  was  multiplied  by  193  days  as  an  average; 
the  number  who  attended  from  180  to  190  days  by  185  days  as  an 
average ;  the  number  who  attended  from  170  to  180  by  175  days 
as  an  average,  etc.     Although  this  will  not  give  the  exact  number 


62       EXTENT  AND  CAUSE 8  OF  RETARDATION. 

of  days  attended,  the  number  obtained  is  a  close  approximation 
to  it  and  sufficiently  accurate  for  our  purpose. 

For  the  promoted  group  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  from 
the  blanks  the  attendance  for  the  eighth  grade,  so  that  the  totals 
are  those  of  the  first  seven  grades  only.  For  the  non-promoted 
group  as  shown  in  the  table,  the  eight  elementary  grades  are 
included. 

Classifying  the  promoted  group  in  divisions  of  thirty  days 
as  above  discussed,  and  on  the  basis  of  a  hundred,  we  obtain  table 
XXXIX.  The  dotted  line  marks  the  division  between  those  who 
attended  the  legally  required  number  of  days,  and  those  who 
did  not. 


Table  XXXIX. — Percentages  of  Attendance  of  the  Pro- 
moted Pupils  in  Groups  of  Thirty  Days. 

Grades 
Days  attended         1  2  3  4  5  6  7  Av.  total 

170  and  over  56.       68.8     74.9     77.9     79.7     83.6     85.       74.4 
140  to  170       34.7     25.1     19.4     17.1     17.0     14.8     13.3     20.5 


110  to  140 

8.3 

4.7 

4.6 

4.3 

3.1 

1.7 

1.5 

4.3 

80  "  110 

1.0 

1.4 

1.2 

.5 

.3 

.3 

.7 

50  "    80 

.1 

.2 

.05 

49  and  less 

.1 

.05 

As  indicated  by  this  table,  there  is  no  minimum  limit  to  the 
number  of  days  of  attendance  necessary  for  promotion,  nor  should 
there  be.  In  this  connection  it  is  essential  to  discriminate  between 
irregular  attendance  and  prolonged  absence.  The  former  is  un- 
doubtedly most  detrimental  both  to  scholarship  and  progress,  and 
is  in  many  cases  at  the  root  of  indifference  to  things  pertaining 
to  school.  In  regard  to  the  banefulness  of  prolonged  absences, 
much  depends  upon  the  time  of  the  year  when  such  absences  occur. 
An  absence  of  sixty  days  at  the  opening  of  school  is  in  many  cases 
not  as  harmful  as  an  absence  of  thirty  days  at  the  end  of  the  year. 
Unfortunately  the  data  of  attendance  on  the  blanks  were  not  suffi- 
ciently complete  to  make  possible  an  analysis  of  all  the  factors  that 
should  be  considered  in  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject.  In  very 
few  cases  was  it  possible  to  tell  from  the  blanks  whether  or  not  a 
prolonged  absence  as  indicated  by  the  vacant  spaces  was  a  real 


ATTENDANCE,  63 

absence,  or  was  only  a  case  of  transfer,  in  which  case  the  record  of 
attendance  would  be  in  another  school.  We  were  therefore  com- 
pelled to  include  in  this  discussion  the  attendance  of  only  such 
pupils  as  were  admitted  not  later  than  October  and  remained  in 
the  same  school  for  the  entire  year.  The  result  of  this  is  that  the 
percentages  of  attendance  obtained  in  the  computation  of  these 
tables  are  undoubtedly  better  than  the  real  total  attendance  of  the 
pupils  enrolled  would  show. 

As  shown  in  the  above  table,  5  per  cent  of  the  promoted  group 
attended  less  than  70  per  cent  of  the  number  of  days  taught. 
These  were  for  the  most  part  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age 
and  greatly  retarded.  In  many  cases  it  was  a  question  of  promo- 
tion as  an  incentive  to  continuing  the  pupil's  school  life,  and  of 
giving  the  boy  or  girl  an  extensive  rather  than  intensive  knowl- 
edge of  the  elementary  subjects,  a  wise  provision  for  exceptional 
cases.  On  the  average  out  of  every  one  hundred  of  the  promoted 
class,  seventy-five  attended  one  hundred  and  seventy  days  and 
over,  twenty  attended  from  140  to  170  days,  four  from  110  to 
140  days,  and  one  attended  less  than  eighty  days. 


Table  XL.- 

Days  attended 

170  and  over 
140  to  170 

—Percentages  of  Attendance  of  ITon- 
Pupils  in  Groups  of  Thirty  Days. 

Grades 
12            3              4              6              6              7 

26.6  52.1    52.0    60.4    56.9    63.4    60.4 

36.7  27.4    24.4    26.0    25.1    27.8    26.4 

-promoted 

Av. 

8         total 

63.7  54.6 
27.3  27.6 

110  to  140 
80  "  110 
50  ''     80 
49  and  less 

18.7 

12.8 

4.0 

1.3 

11.7    15.9 

6.2  4.5 

2.3  2.5 
.3        .8 

9.1    10.6 

3.4      4.7 

.3      2.3 

.9        .4 

5.4    11.4 
1.9 

1.2      1.9 
.6 

4.6  10.9 

4.2 

4.5     2.4 

.5 

Of  the  non-promoted  group  thfe  percentages  of  attendance  are 
similarly  recorded  in  the  foregoing  table.  Eighteen  per  cent  of 
this  group  attended  less  than  70  per  cent  of  the  time,  almost  four 
times  as  many  as  of  the  promoted  group,  leaving  only  82  per 
cent  who  attended  140  days  and  over  as  compared  with  95  per 
cent  of  the  preceding  group.  Out  of  every  hundred  of  the  non- 
promoted  group,  approximately  55  attended  more  than  170  days, 
27  attended  from  140  to  170  days,  and  18  attended  less  than  the 
legally  required  140  days. 


64       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

Lack  of  attendance  is  obviously  greatest  in  the  lower  grades. 
In  the  following  table  the  relative  attendance  of  the  two  groups 
is  shown  on  the  basis  of  70  per  cent  of  the  time  and  over,  and  less 
than  70  per  cent  of  the  time,  for  the  first  seven  grades. 


Table  XLI. — Percei^tages  of  Attendance  of  the  Promoted 

AND   ]^ON-PKOMOTED   PuPILS    ON    THE    BaSIS    OF    70    PeR 

Cent  of  the  IS'umber  of  Days. 

Grades  Average 

70  per  cent  and  over  12  3  4  5  6  7 

Promoted  90.6  93.8  94.3  95.0  96.7  98.4  98.4  94.9 

I^on-promoted         63.3  79.5  76.4  86.4  82.0  91.2  86.8  81.2 

Less  than  70  per  cent 

Promoted  9.5     6.1     5.8     5.0     3.4     1.7     1.8     5.1 

:Nron-promoted         36.8  20.7  23.7  13.7  18.0     9.1  13.3  18.6 


With  an  average  difference  of  13.7  per  cent  between  the 
attendance  of  the  promoted  group  and  the  non-promoted,  of  those 
who  attended  70  per  cent  of  the  time  and  over,  it  is  evident  that 
lack  of  attendance  as  a  cause  of  retardation  is  a  very  important 
factor.  In  grade  one  the  difference  between  the  two  groups 
reaches  the  high  per  cent  of  27.3.  In  the  second  and  fifth  grades 
the  difference  in  attendance  betw^een  the  two  groups  is  approxi- 
mately 14.5  per  cent,  and  increases  to  almost  18  per  cent  in  the 
third  grade.  The  least  differences  in  the  attendance  are  in  the 
fourth  and  sixth  grades, — 8.6  per  cent  for  the  former  and  7.2 
per  cent  for  the  latter. 

On  account  of  the  low  attendance  of  a  considerable  number 
of  the  promoted  class,  it  is  impossible  to  compute  the  number 
Tvho  failed  in  promotion  because  of  irregular  attendance  or  non- 
attendance.  Assuming  an  attendance  of  70  per  cent  to  be  essential 
for  promotion  under  normal  conditions,  and  then  deducting  the  per- 
centages of  the  promoted  in  each  grade  with  an  attendance  less  than 
70  per  cent  of  the  time,  from  the  non-promoted  who  attended  less 
than  70  per  cent  of  the  time,  a  fairly  close  approximation  to  it  can 
be  obtained.  As  shown  in  the  following  table,  we  have  140  for 
the  first  grade,  out  of  a  total  of  155  who  attended  less  than  70 
per  cent  of  the  time,  or  32.9  per  cent  of  the  total  number  not 
promoted  failed  through  lack  of  attendance. 


ATTENDANCE, 


65 


Table   XLII. — Effect   of   Xon-attendance   as   a   Cause   of 

i^on-peomotion. 


No.  attending  less  than 

Grades  70  per  cent  of  time 

1  155 

2  65 

3  68 

4  46 

5  53 

6  12 

r  7 


No.  not  promoted  through 
lack  of  attendance 

140 
61 
55 
44 
51 
12 


Totals 


396 


370 


Per  cent  not  pro- 
moted through 
lack  of  attendance 

32.9 
18.6 
22.3 
13.4 
16.0 
9.1 
13.2 


20.1 


On  the  same  basis  of  the  65  in  the  second  grade  who  attended 
less  than  70  per  cent  of  the  time  and  failed  in  promotion,  61 
failed  because  of  lack  of  attendance,  or  18.6  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  not  promoted  in  this  grade.  In  the  third  grade  22.3  per 
cent  failed  because  of  lack  of  attendance.  In  grades  four  and 
seven  approximately  13  per  cent,  and  in  grade  five  16  per  cent 
failed  because  of  non-attendance.  The  minimum  of  9.1  per  cent 
is  reached  in  the  sixth  grade.  Taken  as  a  whole,  of  the  390  boys 
and  girls  who  attended  less  than  70  per  cent  of  the  time  and 
failed  in  promotion,  370  or  20  per  cent  or  one-fifth  of  the  non- 
promoted  group  failed  because  of  lack  of  attendance. 

From  the  foregoing  discussion  it  is  obvious  that  this  is  not 
a  correct  measure  of  irregular  or  non-attendance  as  a  factor  caus- 
ing non-promotion.  It  is  safe  to  say,  however,  that  20  per  cent 
represents  at  least  the  minimum  number  who  fail  in  promotion 
because  of  lack  of  attendance,  l^o  doubt  a  considerable  number 
of  the  non-promoted  group  who  attended  only. from  140  to  170 
days  must  be  added  to  this  number,  since  the  per  cent  of  the 
non-promoted  is  7  per  cent  higher  than  of  the  promoted.  It  is  also 
true,  however,  that  in  this  group  non-attendance  as  a  factor  causing 
non-promotion  becomes  a  concomitant  factor  with  mental  dul- 
ness,  lack  of  application,  poor  teaching,  or  too  high  a  standard, 
and  a  few  minor  factors,  so  that  its  exact  measure  cannot  be 
determined  in  this  connection. 

The  attendance  of  boys  and  girls  of  the  promoted  class  differs 
very  little.  The  total  difference  in  the  first  seven  grades  is  only 
.4  per  cent,  both  attending  approximately  91  per  cent  of  the 
time.  The  actual  losses  sustained  in  each  of  these  seven  grades 
are  shovm  in  the  following  table: 


^6       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 


Table  XLIII.— 

-Total  Numbeb  of 

Days  Lost  pee  Thousand 

BY  Pupils  of 

THF, 

Peomoted  Ghoup  in 

THE  First  Seven 

Grades. 

Grades 

Days 

lost  per  thoTisand 

1 

135 

2 

94 

3 

96 

4 

96 

5 

79 

6 

69 

7 

61 

Total  92 

Of  the  non-promoted  class  there  is  a  decided  difference  in 
some  of  the  grades,  between  the  attendance  of  male  and  female. 
The  girls  of  the  first  grade  lost  54  days  more  per  thousand  than 
the  boys,  and  yet  only  28  per  cent  of  the  girls  spent  two  years 
and  over  in  this  grade,  as  compared  with  34  per  cent  of  the 
boys.  Approximately  the  same  is  true  of  the  third  grade  in 
which  the  loss  of  days  per  thousand  is  49  more  for  the  girls, 
although  1.4  per  cent  more  boys  spent  two  years  and  over  in  the 
grade.  The  greatest  difference  is  in  the  eighth  grade,  in  which 
the  girls  missed  75  days  more  per  thousand  than  the  boys.  Only 
in  grades  two  and  six  did  the  boys  lose  more  days  than  the  girls, 
19  days  in  the  former  and  10  days  in  the  latter. 

Table  XLIV. — Total  J^umber  of  Days  Lost  per  Thousand 

BY  THE  ]^0N-PR0M0TED  GrOUP. 


Grades 

Male 

Female 

Average 

1 

230 

284 

257 

2 

168 

139 

149 

3 

151 

^00 

176 

4 

134 

149 

142 

5 

169 

194 

182 

6 

133 

123 

128 

7 

114 

168 

136 

8 

87 

162 

125 

Average  169  195  182 

Taking  the  attendance  of  the  eight  elementary  grades  of  the 
non-promoted  group  as  a  whole,  the  loss  per  thousand  was  169 


ATTENDANCE.  67 

for  the  boys  and  195  for  the  girls,  a  difference  of  26  days, 
although  2.1  per  cent  more  of  the  boys  spent  two  years  and  over 
in  the  same  grade.  The  average  total  loss  for  this  group  was 
182  days  per  thousand,  almost  twice  as  much  as  for  the  pro- 
moted group.  Subtracting  the  losses  in  days  of  the  promoted 
group  from  the  non-promoted,  and  stating  them  in  order  from  the 
first  to  the  seventh  grade,  we  have  respectively  122,  55,  85,  46, 
103,  59,  and  75  days,  a  total  average  difference  of  78  days  per 
thousand. 

Contrary  to  expectation,  orphanage  does  not  seem  to  be  a 
direct  cause  for  irregular  attendance  or  non-attendance.  The 
average  attendance  of  354  orphan  boys  was  171  days  and  of  364 
orphan  girls  170  days.  The  average  attendance  of  the  promoted 
boys  was  177  days  and  of  the  non-promoted  162  days,  a  general 
average  of  169.5  days.  Of  the  promoted  girls  the  average  attend- 
ance was  176  days  and  of  the  non-promoted  157  days,  a  general 
average  of  166.5  days. 

On  the  basis  of  $1.54  a  month  per  child,  the  rate  given  for 
February,  1906,  the  amount  of  money  spent  during  1907-1908 
for  the  education  of  the  6709  boys  and  girls  included  in  the 
above  discussion  was  $103,318.80.  Of  this  amount  $75,290.60 
was  spent  on  the  4889  boys  and  girls  who  belonged  to  the  pro- 
moted group  and  $28,028.00  on  the  1820  of  the  non-promoted 
group. 

If  we  assume  that  the  average  degree  of  mental  development 
per  day  of  those  who  are  instructed,  is  commensurate  with  the 
amount  of  money  provided  by  the  Board  of  Education  for  that 
purpose,  we  have  also  to  assume  a  synchronous  loss  for  all  pupils 
not  attending,  at  least  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the  child. 
Of  course  it  is  evident  that  in  many  cases  the  number  of  absences 
means  a  proportionate  increase  in  the  amount  of  individual  atten- 
tion per  child  of  those  present,  but  for  the  absent  ones  they  are 
losses  nevertheless. 

The  economic  loss  thus  incurred  by  the  promoted  group  who 
missed  9.2  per  cent  of  the  time  is  $6,926.73,  and  of  the  non- 
promoted  group  who  missed  18.2  per  cent  of  the  time  $5,101.09, 
a  total  loss  of  $1^,238.81.  Eeduced  to  the  average  loss  per  child, 
we  have  $1.42  for  the  promoted  group  and  $2.81  for  the  non- 
promoted,  just  about  twice  as  much  as  for  the  preceding  group. 


VII. 

SUMMABY. 

The  historical  discussion  of  the  condition  of  the  Heading 
public  schools  from  1903  to  1908  based  upon  the  data  of  enrol- 
ment, preceding  the  school  census,  showed  these  years  to  be  the 
formative  period  of  a  vastly  better  and  more  ' 'up-to-date"  system 
of  instruction.  They  represent  the  'Vorking  out"  period  of  the 
new  system,  during  which  new  conditions  were  constantly  arising 
to  demand  the  closest  kind  of  supervision.  On  account  of  the 
regrading  moreover,  the  continuous,  successive,  upward  increases 
in  the  enrolment  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  grades  were  abnor- 
malities which  more  or  less  obscured  the  real  merits  and  short- 
comings of  the  new  system,  in  augmenting  the  per  cent  of  reten- 
tion to  the  upper  grades. 

In  view  of  these  unstable  conditions  it  may  be  premature  to 
comment  on  the  methods  of  teaching  or  the  system  now  in  vogue. 
Nevertheless,  the  following  facts  were  observed: — 

1.  The  shortcomings  of  the  various  data  of  enrolment  are 
to  be  noted  and  the  discrepancies  which  arise  from  them  when 
not  duly  considered. 

2.  The  February  enrolment  is  the  highest  for  the  first  four 
grades.  From  then  on  to  June  there  is  a  total  decrease  of  19.6 
per  cent.  For  these  same  grades  the  June  enrolment  is  13.3  per 
cent  less  than  the  October  enrolment. 

3.  For  the  upper  three  grades  there  is  a  continuous,  total 
average  decrease  from  September  to  June  of  20.6  per  cent,  the 
largest  monthly  eliminations  being  for  the  months  of  December 
and  March. 

4.  The  total  enrolment  in  the  elementary  grades,  includ- 
ing both  public  and  parochial  schools,  has  decreased  on  the  aver- 
age 123  per  year  during  the  last  three  years  (1905  to  1908). 

5.  Since  1903  there  has  been  a  continuous,  successive,  up- 
ward increase  in  the  enrolment  from  the  lower  to ,  the  upper 
grades. 

6.  'The  enrolment  in  the  boys'  high  school  has  increased 
55.4  per  cent  since  1903,  and  the  girls'  high  school  27  per  cent. 

1,  The  boys  lost  more  time  in  the  lower  grades  than  the 
girls;  8.1  per  cent  more  in  the  elementary  grades  are  retarded, 

(68) 


SUMMARY.  69 

6.1  per  cent  less  are  of  normal  age,  and  2  per  cent  less  are  below 
normal. 

8.  The  difference  between  the  October  enrolment  and  the 
average  yearly  enrolment  from  1903  to  1907  increased  uninter- 
ruptedly from  a  difference  of  only  .7  per  cent  in  1903  to  6.6  per 
cent  in  1907. 

9.  The  pupils  enrolled  at  the  opening  of  the  Polish  parochial 
school  in  1905  were  largely  drawn  from  sources  other  than  the 
public  schools,  but  those  of  St.  Joseph's  parochial  school  were 
drawn  from  the  public  schools. 

10.  Distributed  on  the  basis  of  age,  the  number  of  pupils 
increases  to  the  twelve  year  olds,  but  is  rather  uniform  from  eight 
to  twelve.  On  the  basis  of  the  number  of  twelve  year  olds,  16  per 
cent  are  eliminated  at  thirteen  years  of  age  and  32  per  cent  at 
fourteen.  Approximately  215  leave  at  the  age  of  thirteen  and 
430  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 

11.  The  maximum  retardation  for  the  girls  is  in  the  fourth 
grade  and  for  the  boys  in  the  fifth  grade,  in  which  on  the  aver- 
age 44  per  cent  are  retarded.  Taking  the  eight  elementary  grades 
as  a  whole,  63.5  per  cent  are  of  normal  age,  30.4  per  cent  above 
normal,  and  6.2  per  cent  below  normal. 

12.  The  perceptible  elimination  among  the  girls  begins  in 
the  fifth  grade  and  among  the  boys  in  the  sixth  grade. 

13.  On  the  basis  of  age  the  average  decrease  in  the  per  cent 
of  normal  age  from  the  six  to  the  fourteen  year  olds  is  7.5  per 
cent  and  the  average  increase  in  the  group  above  normal  age  from 
eight  to  fourteen  is  8.7  per  cent. 

14.  On  the  average  1.7  per  cent  of  the  pupils  enrolled  in 
the  elementary  grades  in  1907-1908,  completed  the  grade  in  a 
half  year,  72.3  per  cent  in  the  allotted  time  of  one  year,  7.4  per 
cent  in  a  year  and  a  half,  and  18.6  per  cent  spent  two  years  and 
over  in  the  grade. 

15.  The  course  of  study  or  method  of  teaching  in  the  sec- 
ond grade  is  best  adapted  for  the  progress  of  the  average  child. 
Twenty  per  cent  more  than  in  the  first  grade  completed  it  in 
one  year,  8.3  per  cent  more  than  in  the  third,  7  per  cent  more 
than  in  the  fourth,  and  .4  per  cent  more  than  in  the  fifth. 

16.  On  the  average  1.6  per  cent  more  of  the  girls  in  the 
elementary  grades  made  normal  progress,  and  2.1  per  cent  less 
spent  two  years  and  over  in  the  same  grade. 

17.  Five  and  eight-tenths  per  cent  of  the  pupils  enrolled 
in  the  elementary  grades  gained  time,  34.7  per  cent  made  normal 


70      EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION. 

progress,  and  59.5  per  cent  lost  time,  of  whom  6.8  per  cent  or 
831  boys  and  224  girls  lost  three  years  and  over,  and  78  boys^ 
and  53  girls,  or  1.8  per  cent,  four  years  and  over. 

18.  At  $6.00  per  term  for  each  child,  the  total  amount 
gained  is  $4326  and  the  amount  spent  on  repetition  $88,674.  The 
average  cost  per  boy  v^as  $45.74  and  per  girl  $45.02. 

19.  The  January  enrolment  for  the  first  term  and  the  June 
enrolment  for  the  second  term  form  the  fairest  bases  for  comput- 
ing the  percentages  of  promotion. 

20.  The  midyear  system  of  promotion  lacks  as  yet  full 
installation.  Only  7.6  per  cent  were  promoted  to  a  higher  grade 
at  the  end  of  the  first  term  and  16.4  per  cent  to  a  higher  class  as 
over  against  65.1  per  cent  to  a  higher  grade  and  8.3  per  cent  to  a 
higher  class  at  the  end  of  the  second  term. 

21.  The  fact  that  midyear  promotions  are  made  only  in  the 
first  ^YQ  grades  tends  toward  congestion  in  grades  four  and  five 
and  is  responsible  for  a  considerable  number  of  half  year  losses. 

22.  Up  to  1907-1908,  entrances  of  beginners  were  not  con- 
fined to  the  first  month  or  two  of  each  term,  as  is  advisably  done 
now. 

23.  Of  those  who  entered  the  first  grade  in  February,  1907 
and  1908,  only  one  in  eight  completed  the  grade  in  one  year,  due 
to  lack  of  full  installation  of  midyear  promotions. 

24.  Less  than  half  of  the  teachers  in  grades  two  and  three 
promoted  in  February,  1908,  and  approximately  two-thirds  of  the 
girls  and  three-fourths  of  the  boys  who  entered  the  fifth  grade  in 
February,  1908,  lost  the  half  year. 

25.  The  pupils  below  normal  age  entering  the  first  grade 
have  been  reduced  more  than  ten  per  cent  during  the  last  eight 
years. 

26.  During  this  same  time  the  normal  age  group  has 
increased  ten  per  cent. 

27.  The  pupils  who  spent  two  years  and  over  in  the  same 
grade  were  on  the  average  six-tenths  of  a  year  younger  than  those 
who  completed  the  grade  in  a  half  year. 

28.  The  variations  in  the  rate  of  increase  above  the  normal 
age  for  the  group  who  spent  two  years  and  over  in  the  same  grade, 
indicate  differences  in  the  adaptation  of  the  course  of  study  or 
method  of  teaching,  to  the  average  mental  status  of  the  pupils 
enrolled. 

29.  The  average  age  of  entrance  to  the  first  grade  is  practi- 
cally the  same  for  boys  and  girls,  6.28  years  for  the  former  and 
6.27  years  for  the  latter. 


•      "  !• 


•      •••••*  ■      *     • 


SUMMARY,  71 

30.  The  maximum  effect  of  retardation  in  increasing  the 
average  age  is  .70  of  a  year  in  the  fourth  grade  for  the  boys  and 
.50  of  a  year  in  the  fifth  grade  for  the  girls,  a  difference  of  .20 
of  a  year. 

31.  The  maximum  effect  of  elimination  in  decreasing  the 
average  age  of  the  grade  is  .30  of  a  year  for  the  boys  and  .40 
of  a  year  for  the  girls,  a  difference  of  a  tenth  of  a  year,  both  being 
in  the  seventh  grade. 

32.  Of  those  who  entered  the  first  grade  below  normal  age, 
24.5  per  cent  made  normal  progress,  39.6  per  cent  lost  one  year, 
and  36.0  per  cent  lost  two  years ;  and  of  the  normal  age  group 
40.8  per  cent  made  normal  progress,  33.7  per  cent  lost  one  year, 
and  only  21.6  per  cent  lost  two  years. 

33.  By  the  time  the  eighth  grade  is  reached,  25.9  per  cent 
of  the  class  have  been  admitted  from  other  schools. 

34.  Approximately  20  per  cent  of  the  losses  sustained  by 
grades  five  to  eight  are  due  to  a  change  in  residence. 

35.  Approximately  31  per  cent  of  those  who  leave  the  public 
schools  go  to  work,  17  per  cent  leave  the  city,  and  21  per  cent  enter 
the  parochial  schools. 

36.  Twenty-four  per  cent  of  the  boys  who  go  to  work  and 
21  per  cent  of  the  girls  do  not  get  beyond  the  fourth  grade,  and 
43  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  46.6  per  cent  of  the  girls  do  not  get 
beyond  the  fifth  grade.  Exactly  one-fourth  of  the  girls  leave  in 
the  fifth  grade  and  32  per  cent  of  the  boys  leave  in  the  sixth. 
Only  9.1  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  15.7  per  cent  of  the  girls  get 
to  the  eighth  grade,  an  average  of  12.4  per  cent. 

37.  Twenty-five  per  cent  both  of  those  who  leave  the  city 
and  of  those  who  enter  the  parochial  schools  leave  in  the  first 
two  grades;  27  per  cent  of  the  former  and  40  per  cent  of  the 
latter  leave  in  grades  three  and  four. 

38.  Only  15  per  cent  of  the  boys  who  left  to  go  to  work  and 
16  per  cent  of  the  girls  made  normal  progress,  47.8  per  cent  of  the 
boys  and  46.3  per  cent  of  the  girls  lost  two  years  and  over,  23.9 
per  cent  of  the  boys  and  17  per  cent  of  the  girls  lost  three  years 
and  over. 

39.  The  attendance  of  the  promoted  pupils  is  38.6  per  cent 
better  than  the  attendance  of  the  non-promoted. 

40.  Of  the  promoted  group  74.4  per  cent  attended  170  days 
and  over;  20.5  per  cent  from  140  to  170  days;  and  5.1  per  cent 
less  than  140  days. 

41.  Of  the  non-promoted  group  only  54.6  per  cent  attended 


72       EXTENT  AND  CAUSES  OF  RETARDATION, 

170  days  and  over,  27.6  per  cent  from  140  to  170  days;  and  18 
per  cent  less  than  140  days. 

42.  iN'inety-four  and  nine-tenths  per  cent  of  the  promoted 
group  attended  70  per  cent  of  the  time  and  over,  and  only  81.2 
per  cent  of  the  non-promoted. 

43.  Of  the  promoted  group  only  5.1  per  cent  attended  less 
than  70  per  cent  of  the  time  and  18.6  per  cent  of  the  non-promoted. 

44.  At  least  20  per  cent  of  the  non-promotions  are  due  to 
irregular  attendance  or  non-attendance. 

45.  The  promoted  pupils  of  the  first  seven  grades  missed  9.2 
per  cent  of  the  time,  and  the  non-promoted  (including  the  eight 
elementary  grades),  18.2  per  cent. 

46.  The  attendance  of  the  promoted  group  is  practically  the 
same  for  boys  and  girls,  but  of  the  non-promoted  group  the  girls 
missed  2.6  per  cent  more  days  than  the  boys. 

47.  On  the  average,  orphanage  is  not  a  direct  cause  for  irreg- 
ular attendance  or  non-attendance. 

48.  On  the  basis  of  $1.54  a  month  per  pupil,  the  total  loss 
sustained  through  irregular  attendance  or  non-attendance  was  $12,- 
238.81  in  1907-1908,  an  average  loss  of  $1.42  for  each  promoted 
child  and  $2.81  for  the  non-promoted. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


^tf-« — WH- 


^   LD2lA-50m-2,'71 
(P200lsl0)476— A-32 


.  General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


